Lyssa Beyer

A compound with over 400 children, more than 100 wives and a small smattering of men – these are the ingredients of outdated religious practices served up fresh daily.

Texas authorities have uncovered a compound, such as this, in El Dorado recently after an alleged 16-year-old girl phoned police saying she felt she was in danger. Texas authorities wasted no time and searched the YFZ ranch.

The authorities found that girls as young as 14 to 16 years old were the wives and mothers to one man; it is also alleged that these young girls were being abused.

The idea of polygamy within the Mormon religion, now referred to as Church of Latter-day Saints, was removed from the religion in the late nineteenth century in order to achieve statehood in Utah. Prior to banning polygamy, Mormons believed that to get to the highest level of heaven, a man must marry three wives.

Polygamy may have been abandoned in LDS, but it is still practiced in many communities throughout Utah, Texas and Colorado. The YFZ ranch consisted of a sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has obviously not discarded the polygamy ideals.

Many have asked why these compounds were searched sooner; Texas officials replied by saying they had no evidence of wrong doing and they could not infringe on the rights of this religion because “this is America.”

Well, the exact words of the constitution read: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

My question is where is the line between religious freedom and criminal activity?

Polygamy is illegal, yet is allowed when religiously practiced. That sounds great, you could do just about anything in the name of religion. I am going to start my own religion, where I marry several men, one millionaire and several nice looking men. The men will carry my children and only live to be subservient to my needs.

Forget about the rights of my future husbands, they made the choice to be with me. Just as the the women at the YFZ ranch did, who made the choice to be with one man. But did they really make that choice, though?

It is one thing to make a clear and concise decision about what you do with your life, but it is quite another when there are no options given to you, there is no choice to be made and you must accept the life that is given to you.

These young women were born into a life that consists of pleasing one man with many other wives. I watched a clip on CNN.com where a wife of a polygamist said that monogamy is unfair to women because a man will never be committed to you unlike the men that celebrate polygamy.

I say to this woman – one man is not committed to you. Your husband has committed himself to several woman. Where is the logic there?

While watching my fair share of Anderson Cooper clips on CNN.com, I could not help but notice the cookie cutter vision of people on this compound. All the women wore the same dresses with the same up-do and all the men were wearing slacks and various colored dress shirts. Where is the individuality? There is absolutely no sense of identity.

All that aside, there is still the question of what to do with the 416 children. Hypothetically speaking, if Child Protective Services is called and they determine that a child is in imminent danger after an investigation, then that child generally is not returned to the family.

This is somewhat the same situation. If, after the investigation is finished, it is determined there is a potential threat for these children, they will not return to the ranch. CPS cannot put the children back in to that situation.

Another item that one must remember is the money. How did they pay for their well-being? Where did the money come to take care of the children? According to CNN.com, women were declaring themselves to be single parents, which would make it OK to receive government aid, and a fairly good amount as well.

So, we have 416 children taken from a polygamist community in El Dorado. This polygamist community was heavily controlled by men and women; children were abused along with being taught from infancy to obey their superiors, which is a man.

We have women collecting thousands upon thousands of tax dollars through various government-sanctioned welfare programs to fund a life that is considered illegal in every other part of the nation.

I would say we have a problem here, especially for a country that preaches human rights so avidly.

I believe people should be allowed to practice their religion freely but there is a line. When a religious sect is harmful to people or breaks the law, it should be punished accordingly. It seems only logical.

On the other hand, perhaps marrying several men and exhausting government aid funds might make my life more complete. I know for a fact that watching a man give birth would.

Doud is a junior political science major and chief copy editor of The Spectator.