Texas Cult, Religious Freedom, and the Law

Everyone is blogging about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints group in Texas, and besides the fact that I hate to be left out of the fray, I have been following the news and am intrigued. Not too long ago I blogged about another "cult," which is more fascinating, and in my opinion, errrr...honorable? But that is a mere subjective statement.

Let it be noted, as has been said by this author before, I admire the tenacity and religious zeal of various sects; however, that is not to say I agree in the least with their ideologies and subsequent practices.

Thus said, on to the group under scrutiny.

One must step back and consider why the group's religious privileges have been suspended and taken court: sexual abuse, a most loathsome crime. The accusations, at this point, center on the fact that underage teenage girls were forced to marry to men three times their age. This last adjectival clause (three times their age), is merely inflammatory, for does it really matter how old the perpetrating male is under the letter of the law? An 18 year old who lies with a 13 year old, under the letter of the law, is no less exempt.

That in mind, the group, America dry heaves in disgust at the allegations. And yes, my stomach turns a bit. But I must point out my own hypocrisy. Just a few weeks ago I observed a documentary set in Papua New Guinea in which young 13 years old girls were sent away to neighboring villages to marry men three times their age. Disgust did not sit in. "It's just a part their culture," I thought to myself. And I was not alone. Most viewers, the English adventurers behind the documentary, and cultural anthropologists everywhere would be infuriated were any human power to step in and halt the practice in the name modernism. There is little to no difference between this practice (if one isolates religious belief) and the practice of Texas' FLDS creep squad.

But I cannot neglect an oh so important factor: Law, which is not only governs any culture, it flows out of culture. So when it comes down to it, there really is a different set of standards, in my mind. And here I am not upsetting the commitment to absolute truth to which I subscribe, that is divine truth. Here I am talking about man-made standards. Some things that are permissible in the mind of man, are not in the mind of God, yet man still allows them in the legal sense, as in the Papua New Guinea. So while something is legal for a jungle tribe, is not legal for an American sect, but maybe neither are morally acceptable to God.

Anyway, now to the heart of the issue. I believe wholeheartedly in my First Amendment Religious freedom. But the constitution of the United Stated guarantees this freedom, so long as it does not infringe upon civil order. At the this point, it seems that the FLDS group observes practices that infringe upon civil order, and in my opinion, a reprimand is necessary. Double standards in federal forensic responsibility only breeds contempts amongst civilians.

I know this is a slippery slope into absolute repression of religious expression. I myself give up certain rights central to my belief system to obey the law, and while not thrilled with it, do so for the sake of respect of civil authorities. And I believe that the restrictions I deal with are tertiary to my faith, and I can deal with it.

So while I sympathize with the FLDS group in that they cannot legally fully express their beliefs, I have to ask, are the beliefs that are in violation of the law worth committing? Would it be sinful for the group to wait till their young women breech the age of 18 to marry them? It might not be ideal to their beliefs, but it does not violate them. And this is the sense in which I myself at time avoid moral compromise but satisfy combating systems...religion and law.