(no subject)

[novapsyche]

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything about the polygamist sect in Texas. That's because I'm waiting for actual facts to come out instead of innuendo.

If nothing else, though, the whole thing has highlighted a loophole in Texas' sex laws: "Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult. A girl can get married with parental permission at 16[.]"

Edit: And now three children have been taken from a New Mexican church, although the state won't give the reasons why.

Comments

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

More scary numbers from the polygamist compound by Echidne of the Snakes:

"Of the 463 children, 250 are girls and 213 are boys. Children 13 and younger are about evenly split — 197 girls and 196 boys — but there are only 17 boys aged 14 to 17 compared with the 53 girls in that age range."

[gwendally.livejournal.com]

I just finished Jan Krakauer's fabulous book about fundamentalist Mormons and it talks about this community in great detail. This raid is nothing new: this has been happening every generation or so since forever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Banner_of_Heaven

[gwendally.livejournal.com]

Boys aren't high enough up in the pecking order to get a date, so it drives them off.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

Why would anyone consider rural Texas a good place to set up a separatist community? That's what I can't understand.