Polygamist Ranch Shows Downside of Organized Religion

Commentary Editor

   According to The Washington Post, authorities in El Dorado, Texas, recently stepped in to rescue more than 400 women and children from a ranch because a 50-year-old man allegedly married and fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl.

   David Steed Allred, a member of the religious cult called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, arrived in Texas in 2003 posing as a businessmen looking for land to build a hunting retreat for clients. The townspeople found out the truth shortly afterwards and worried about problems arising from the tales of blood atonement, forced marriages and brainwashing that circulated through the small town by word of mouth.

   So, if it was known in this small town what was occurring in the 25,000 square-foot enclosure guarded by men with semi-automatic weapons, then why hasn't this cult been investigated before? Arizona law enforcement knew of this group's misconduct in 2005 when they issued a warrant for the FCLD's psycho-leader Warren Jeffs, who arranged a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old married man. Eventually Jeffs surrendered after he hauled tail to Utah to avoid prosecution and is now serving time in jail for, not only the illegal marriage, but also being an accomplice to rape, having sex with minors and participating in incest.

   How could Texas authorities sleep at night knowing what was happening to these women and children? Couldn't they investigate somehow and save these poor, innocent women and children from being brainwashed into being birthing factories? In the United States, anything is possible when you want to get something done without having proof, but wanting to is another story. I figured it had something to do with an incident that occurred in 1993, which seems to have slipped a lot of people's memory.

   Does David Koresh ring a bell? Maybe Waco?

   This Branch Davidian leader caused one heck of a ruckus by not surrendering to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. After 51 days of watching the negotiations on television, the FBI finally raided the compound, resulting in a fire, which claimed the life of Koresh and 76 of his followers.

   It seems any religious cult should be investigated considering incidents like the one in El Dorado, Texas, echo similarities from the past, but what exactly is considered a cult? According to The American Heritage Dictionary, various definitions apply to the word "cult," including "a system or community of religious worship and ritual." With people being so politically correct, definitions such as this could put Christianity in the same category as Scientology, Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses.

    Before you get your undies in a wad, I do believe that everyone has a right to freedom of religion, but that doesn't mean I think your beliefs make sense, just as you may think my beliefs are unjustifiable. Just don't come knocking on my door early in the morning wearing a white dress shirt and black pants or attempt to persuade me that Saturday should be set aside as the day of the Lord. To me, every day is the day of the Lord.

   More than anything, I believe people of all religions should listen to that little voice called a conscience before throwing themselves at the mercy of any self-proclaimed prophet. I just believe in God and really don't believe completely in any religion simply because the Bible doesn't point out that choosing to branch off and start up yet another church, usually to save your own ass from Hell's fire, as being correct.

   Strangely, I tend to agree with Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhists, when he said, "This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

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