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Showing posts from April 8, 2008

Abuse or devotion? Brainwashing or lifestyle?

One of the top news stories of the last 24 hours has been the raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints property in Texas. The raid by authorities was prompted by an anonymous phone call from a caller identifying herself as a 16 year old who had been married when she was 15, had a child, and had been abused. The authorities removed women and children from the compound while detaining male members of the organization at the compound. The authorities still have not been able to identify the girl who made the initial phone call. I do not know the whole story of this situation. But as I watch the reaction to this group, I'm getting a little edgy. There is a lot of use of the words abuse and brainwashing. And all of this is coming from people outside of the organization. Those outside of the group have a different standard, a different world view, than those inside the group. Perhaps I am worried how far the definitions of abuse and brainwashing will be appl...