Bridget,
Crystal clear spot on description of the failure of our laws to protect the weakest among us. Failure of laws that instead protect, under the insidious veil of religion, the rights of abusers. Failure of many Americans who don’t get it – don’t see the damage – then scream “freedom” all at the expense of children.
Don’t be discouraged by the vast number of the same men commenters who in every PajamasMedia articles in which women are protrayed as “getting away with something” seem to enjoy this sort of “cultism,” who probably secretly drool with envy of the brilliance of Jeffs to pull off so successfully, a culture of religious freedom to child rape and subjugate females. Also I wonder if the women commenters who cry “oh but the mother’s!!!!” seem to realize that crying over the mothers, in fact, send these kids back to the abuse. Who cares right? They’re only kids.
For one, let’s call the male leaders of such Cults what they really are, misogonists. Let’s secondly call the men who come into such cults knowingly what they really are, pedophiles. Thirdly, for the sake of calling a spade, a spade, this IS a cult and not a religion (as you’ve articulated so rightly the difference – void of messiahs tooling around in red escalades and raping 12 year olds) whose sole MO is one in which indoctrination of pre-pubescent girls starts at an early age. And what is this indoctrination? their sexual servitude to adult males, not marriage, just sex and impregnation, at the time of puberty.
Also correct is your description of the women, brought up through the ranks as “shells,” void of thoughts of their own, living in seritude and afraid to question, taught to lie when asked their age or the ages of their children to protect, not their own childre from predators but the men who prey on them.
Wonderful article Bridget and I’m happy to see a “flip-side” to the previous article by another on the same subject. Thanks for speaking out in opposition.
