The separation of church and state does not apply to religions that advocate sexual abuse and violence toward underage women. The Child Protective Services (CPS) made the correct decision to remove 416 minors from a polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas, earlier this month. Any arguments that attempt to defend the people at the compound, including anyone who advocates returning the children to their parents based on religious rights implied in the First Amendment, misunderstands the role the government has to protect its citizens from physical harm.
The raids occurred at the Yearning for Zion Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after a phone call to a family violence shelter from a 16-year-old girl who claimed she had been forced to marry and have sexual relations with an older man in the compound. She also reportedly said that she was several weeks pregnant and seemed distraught and fearful because of her situation. The authorities then raided the compound, removing the children and placing them in the custody because, according to The New York Times, there was a "'widespread pattern' of physical and sexual abuse of children" at the polygamous sect, and the children were in danger of future abuse.
This breakaway sect of the Mormon church does not constitute a religion. Though the beliefs of the Mormon church may sound strange to some, the views of the fundamentalist sect in no way reflect mainstream Mormonism. The sect, with some 10,000 members spread sporadically across the western United States in compounds similar to the one in Eldorado, broke with the Mormon church in 1890 because Mormon leaders "repudiated the polygamy prescribed by its founding prophet, Joseph Smith, and excommunicated members practicing plural marriage."
The issue here, however, is not the practice of polygamy, which is common in other parts of the world, but instead is the claim that physical and sexual abuse is somehow sanctified by religious doctrine. This church should not be allowed to hide under the guise of religious freedom. The compound, and the religious teachings, are only a front for a place in which sexual deviants can take advantage of underage girls, forcing them to marry and perform sexual acts.
Many members are sexual offenders and the leader of the compound, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison last year for making a 14-year-old girl marry her 19-year-old cousin and have sex against her will - he was essentially an accomplice to rape.
There are those who would argue that this specific church is protected by the First Amendment to practice a religion of its choosing and that the children should be returned to the ranch at least until specific evidence of abuse is confirmed.
After all, the girl who reportedly made the phone call has not been identified. What this argument fails to acknowledge is that the U.S. government has a right to step in when religious beliefs step on and hinder the individual rights of its citizens.
Most of the children do not choose nor do they want to participate in these marriages or sexual acts, and hence they should be protected as if they were children living outside the compound.
Texas law enforcement has acted justly and within reason every step of the way during this investigation. Until the investigation is complete and allegations of sexual abuse prove false, which they most likely won't be, the children should stay in protective custody. The agency has followed standard procedure as it would have in all other cases.
If there is one case of sexual abuse and it is deemed that more children are at risk, then all the children are removed from the residence. The religious freedoms of the members of the polygamist compound are not being violated because the separation of church and state is not applicable to this case to begin with.
Greg Pivarnik is a student at the University of Connecticut.
