I Have A Problem

I have a problem.  As you might know by now, I am not a fan of agencies or liberal do-gooders who like the whole idea of removing children from the homes of people whose culture they don't like.  I have known a number of CPS case-workers here in Arizona, and it is not unusual for them to be single women (some with alternative lifestyles of their own). I think that in some CPS circles it is a basic given that the average parent is not good enough, and is probably breaking one or more of CPS's gray-area, vague administrative laws.  That is why, in a CPS case battle between a family and the agency, the agency representatives will fight tooth and nail to prevail over you and to prove that you are abusive, negligent and unfit, even if all you did was teach your kids that polygamy is godly and biblical.  They don't have the resources to confiscate EVERY kid in the nation, so they have to be selective.

There is good reason to believe that there is an extra inducement to remove cute Caucasian kids, and that there is federal money to be won when parental rights are terminated.  The watchword of the CPS community is - "the best interests of the children".  This is a particularly clever slogan because it evinces the assertion that the agency desires nothing more than the happiness, welfare, security and peace of mind of the child.  Even this aspiration seems to dismiss any concern for the rights, wishes and welfare of the parents, but that is not the worst part.  The problem is that this pompous jargon suggests that, in a war between what the parents think is in the 'best interests of the child" and what CPS/DCFS thinks, CPS is always wiser and will ALWAYS make the final decision.  To parents under attack it must feel much like having a policeman sit in your house and tell you when it is okay to make love.

My focus today is, however, a different offender - and perhaps a more insidious one.  I took the liberty of watching the online video of the last Utah Attorney General's Safety Net meeting on USTREAM.  From what I saw and from what I heard from other observers, there were individuals (civilians) in attendance who want to create an underground railroad to squirrel away other people's teenagers.  The idea is like this - (and it's already been done a few times) - the lay crusaders learn about a teen who is getting sideways with his or her parents (or who is no longer living with them).  Then the crusader wants to provide food and shelter (and a new religion) to the disaffected teen.  The law holds the parents responsible for the child's care.  If a child runs away, law enforcement is required to return the child to the parents.  The crusaders have a different agenda.

The crusaders' plan goes like this - find collaborators who are willing to hide the teens in their homes (the LDS Church recently donated houses to these lay crusaders).  The goal is to keep the teens in secret hideouts for as long as possible, and for as long as necessary to re-indoctrinate them and sour them against their families and culture (e.g. the "two Fawns").  The parents must be kept in the dark (after all, they are just plygs).  The crusaders have no interest in becoming state-certified as providers of shelter or therapy or anything.  Remember, the mission is ideological - NOT humanitarian. These interfering busy-bodies are bent on massaging their own rescuer egos.

There is a word for these activities - KIDNAPPING !!!  It is a crime.  In this Safety Net meeting, the other (non-lay) attendees seem at least partly oblivious of their complicity in criminal conspiracy.  They seem unaware of their collective exposure to criminal and civil charges. 

You see, polygamists bear an automatic, aggravated disability.  Their religion relegates them to a lower citizenship class, and renders them open to special persecution.  If you are a polygamist or are in a polygamous community, look out.  There are people who want your children as badly as do the CPS agents.  All of those people who associate with the Safety Net and who think that it is okay to entice and conceal and influence other families' children should have an opportunity to experience the dread and anguish associated with government agencies or other perpetrators poaching their own children.

I'm not sure about you but, when it comes to people confiscating my children, I have a problem.