Friday, April 11, 2008

Where Does Ones Freedom End . . .

. . . and anther's begin!

I would hope, that universally, we are horrified by what is happening in the polygamist camp in Texas:
According to court documents unsealed this week, the teenager said during her call to a local domestic-abuse hotline that she was taken to the ranch by her parents three years ago and shortly afterward was married "spiritually" to a man three times her age who physically and sexually abused her.

Caver of the Texas Rangers said that when he and other officers arrived at the ranch on April 3, he told the ranch's overseer, Merril Jessop, that they would execute the search warrant "at whatever cost that may be." But Caver said he told Jessop he wanted to do it "in the most peaceful, respectful way I could, to avoid destroying their property."

Caver said that all the buildings on the sprawling 1,700-acre compound were searched for children and that he asked sect leaders to unlock the temple and the gate on the 10-foot-tall concrete fence around the building, but sect leaders refused. Authorities brought in a locksmith to unlock the fence gate, but they had to "physically breach" the temple door and every door inside the structure, Caver said. At that point, church members formed a human chain in front of the temple and then dropped to their knees as officers proceeded.
So that begs the question that Jeff at Anti Strib is asking:
I think this is a good example of when the concept of "freedom" becomes murky. What do we have freedom to teach our children? Are we free to indoctrinate them into a cult? If this is wrong, then were is the line? What rights to children have to *not* be exposed to something like this?
These are the splinter type issues that can challenge any judicial system. We have 'murky lines' in many areas of debate that can become quite passionate, abortion issue being another one, death penalty, gun control, and freedom of religion.

But as we see in Texas, and I hope we can all agree, that line was crossed some time ago. But that still doesn't answer the question . . . . where is the line, and who gets to draw it?

Flash

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