celticlord2112
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Archer
The argument celtic is that considering the religious environment of the compound the likelyhood of pregancies being out of wedlock are next to nill, and when there is a pattern of it as in this case then you can't ignore it.
Statistical impossibility for that many pregnant girls under the age in a population that small to be written off as average behaviour.
The damning evidence is in the church records of marriages that include minors.
I'm no fan of CPS, but in this case when you have this much probable cause the investigation must be done. and the threat of additional damage leaving them in the hands of parents is beyond the ability for me to suspend belief
So far, most of the "underage" pregnancies have turned out not to be the case. As for the statistical probability--15 pregnancies out of 460 individuals. If half are female, that's a pregnancy rate of approximately 65 per 1000. The national teenage pregnancy rate is 53 per 1000. If the number of female individuals removed were just 50 higher (280), then the pregnancy rate is right at the national average (I point this out because I do not know the demographic breakdown of the persons removed from the ranch). Statistically, the pregnancy rate is not at all out of bounds even in a population of that size.
And that is a point that many are overlooking. The marriage and pregnancy aspects of the FLDS compound are disturbing, but they are not disproportionate to the national norm. Further, so far as I am aware, no one at the FLDS compound is receiving welfare or other state aid. The children are clean, well fed, and well clothed--far better so, in fact, than a great many children whom CPS will leave in the care of their parents.
I am not saying there are not things that warrant investigation. There most certainly are. However, there has been nothing put forward that substantially demonstrates all of the children removed to have been in imiminent danger or suffering from physical abuse. This, mind you, was the finding of the appellate court in ruling against CPS.
In short, while there is great cause to investigate, there is zero cause to engage in a wholesale disruption of families, and, so far, the only argument put forth for that removal is that the FLDS religion itself is "abusive"--a charge that the government lacks the competence to make. No government is qualified to sit in judgement on religion, but that is exactly what is happening here.
Investigate absolutely. Identify the real criminal actors in that compound and prosecute them accordingly. But let this be done in a fashion which does not demonize the religious beliefs and practices of the innocents in that compound. To do otherwise is a grave injustice.
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RE: Not Waco 2 as claimed by some. - 
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