Book review... and philosophical rant

First on my summer reading list was Escape by Carolyn Jessop.

I started it yesterday. I finished it today. I found it to be riveting and horrifying, but I'm certainly glad I read it. It makes me pray even harder for the liberation of all those women and children who live brainwashed, cult-addled lives... and for the prosecution of the vile men who perpetuate the lie.

Read the book, I tell you!

Merril Jessop and his first six wives (Carolyn is on the far right)

I will confess to having some small misgivings when I first heard of the removal of the kids at the Yearning For Zion FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas... what business is it of anyone else if these people want to live this way? They're not bothering anyone else and it's their right to practice their religion. Besides, women who AREN'T polygamists are making choices about their own bodies all the time. Surely the FLDS women can live like that if they want to.

Trouble is, they either don't want to, or they've been totally brainwashed into believing it's what they have to do to earn salvation. Or they're statutorially not able to make that decision.

The first thing I learned that began changing my mind was that the "wives" and their multitudinous children were all drawing welfare checks. How DARE those people make ME pay for their bizarre choices? Of course, that's my gripe about welfare in general...

But reading Jessop's book opened my eyes to the absolute violation of the human rights of these people. Yes, it's a narrow edge I'm perched on -- what if enough people in the US decide that me taking my kids to church every Sunday is a violation of their human rights? Or that feeding them Ramen noodles violates their human right to proper nourishment? It's a quandary that concerns me greatly.

However, I don't kick my children until their bones break, or deny them the proper healthcare they need... my kids don't even know what the word "apocalypse" means, much less center their playtimes around it.

The fictitious sixteen-year-old girl who filed the complaint that led to the CPS raid on the compound? I don't think she really was fictitious. I think she's probably dead and her body's been buried or dumped in some remote Arizona or Utah canyon somewhere. Any children she had already borne would either be absorbed into the rest of the family or similarly disposed of.

Sound extreme? Maybe so, but these men are SICK FREAKS and I don't think a single one of them would bat an eyelash at doing that.