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ERCougar · 06-02-2008, 04:53 PM

Sorry if this is miscategorized but my thoughts are more political than literary...

My wife just finished the book "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop, about her escape from the FLDS colony. She's been pointing out small excerpts from it that have gotten me thinking. Before reading this, both of us felt that Texas CPS overstepped their bounds; now I'm not so sure.

I wondered initially why they didn't just go in and remove the children who were the suspected victims. As you read this story though, you start to realize just how evil Warren Jeffs was. I used to think he was just some crazy fundamentalist, when in reality, this was man was far more--he was physically, sexually, and mentally abusing people of all ages, including young boys and girls. His crimes extended far beyond just religious misguidance. Families would disappear, and no one to this day, even IN the sect, knows where they are. The book is aptly titled--it was literally an escape to get out.

With that in mind, I'm starting to think all of the children in the colony were in "imminent danger". That's not to say they were all being abused, and I'm not saying all the adults were evil, but it's certainly hard to sort out who's in danger while the children are in the colony. I don't understand all the legal issues involved, but I can see where the CPS was coming from.

It's also sort of creepy to read some of the religious language these leaders were using. Much of it will sound very familiar to Mormons, and you realize that everything's in place for our leaders to do the same thing Jeffs did. It's a credit to them that they haven't.

I'm excited to read the whole book through now that my wife's done.

06-02-2008, 04:53 PM	#1
ERCougar Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,589	Escape Sorry if this is miscategorized but my thoughts are more political than literary... My wife just finished the book "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop, about her escape from the FLDS colony. She's been pointing out small excerpts from it that have gotten me thinking. Before reading this, both of us felt that Texas CPS overstepped their bounds; now I'm not so sure. I wondered initially why they didn't just go in and remove the children who were the suspected victims. As you read this story though, you start to realize just how evil Warren Jeffs was. I used to think he was just some crazy fundamentalist, when in reality, this was man was far more--he was physically, sexually, and mentally abusing people of all ages, including young boys and girls. His crimes extended far beyond just religious misguidance. Families would disappear, and no one to this day, even IN the sect, knows where they are. The book is aptly titled--it was literally an escape to get out. With that in mind, I'm starting to think all of the children in the colony were in "imminent danger". That's not to say they were all being abused, and I'm not saying all the adults were evil, but it's certainly hard to sort out who's in danger while the children are in the colony. I don't understand all the legal issues involved, but I can see where the CPS was coming from. It's also sort of creepy to read some of the religious language these leaders were using. Much of it will sound very familiar to Mormons, and you realize that everything's in place for our leaders to do the same thing Jeffs did. It's a credit to them that they haven't. I'm excited to read the whole book through now that my wife's done.