Will the real Mormon please stand up?

I am sure most of you have heard about the raid of the Texas F.L.D.S ranch. I have been following this story because it fascinates me. I was reading some articles about it this morning and just thought I would share some of my thoughts on the subject. I think what brought it on was that on the Today show they were announcing the headlines and they said the "Mormon children" taken from the ranch. There has been some confusion over the name f the church. A lot of the news is refering to them as Mormons. This disturbs me because I do not want the world thinking this is our church. So I was looking it up online and there are several news articles talking about the problem LDS people are having with this. I guess I am not alone. It seems that the FLDS church also considers themselves to be Mormons, so I can see where there is confusion among the newscasters. It's just hard to imagine that the world really thinks we are that way.

It's a really sad case. I don't really think it was handled properly. Other than the phone call they got from one girl they do not have sufficient evidence to take all the children in the entire ranch (that I know of). It is unfair to the families that are disrupted. However, from the stories we hear it also seems unfair that these poor children have to be raised in this kind of environment. I was watching an interview yesterday with a lawyer and 3 of the women from the ranch. Meredith Viera was interviewing them. She kept asking them direct questions about how young girls were allowed to marry. They would not answer the question at all... They kept saying something completely off the subject. Finally, Meredith, after asking her several different ways, gave up and asked the lawyer. He said that the reason they were having trouble answering the questions was because of the strict rules they have. Later, I heard a news caster talking about it saying that they are fearful of consequences from their families if they tell too much. Sad, really. I cannot imagine living this way... It was interesting to hear the women talk. They not only look old fashioned, but also talk in an old fashioned way.

I was reading to Brennan last night from the Friend magazine. One story was about the pioneers having to leave because of persectuion. The next story was about a little boy who's best friend told him his mom wouldn't let him be friends anymore because he was Mormon. I tried to explain to Brennan that some people do not like our church. It was hard to explain to a little child that people do not like our religion. He didn't really understand.

The point of that, is it sort of makes me think of the pioneers of our church and their persecution. This seems, in a way, similar to that. Religious persecution. I do not know the details of what has been going on in that Texas Ranch. I don't understand their culture. It doesn't seem right to me at all, but I do know that these poor women & children do not deserve what they are being put through. The men, on the other hand...maybe they should have been taken instead.

What are your thoughts??