There are those who condemn the "activist" courts. Generally, those who do are really saying that the courts are not doing what the individuals want done. There is a long history here in the United States that it has been the courts that ensured our liberties and freedoms against governments. We have seen it again with the court's action in the case of the children in Texas who were taken by a state agency based on an anonymous phone call.
The children have been returned to their parents even though the courts did put on what many consider extreme, if not illegal, restrictions.
There will be outcries from some readers who will say that laws have been broken. Adults may have broken the law against polygyny, the practice of one man having more than one wife. While this is true in cases of our legal system, it certainly wasn't and isn't in many cultures around the world. In the history of Christianity, we have King David who had 18 wives, Abraham had three and according to the Bible, Solomon supposedly had 700. In the United States, according to The Week, polygamy was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1878 because the court said "polygamy was almost exclusively a feature of the life of Asiatic and African people and that it was contrary to the spirit of Christianity." All this being said, there are still an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 people in the United State who practice polygyny or polyandry.
Polygamy, the term used to incorporate both polygyny and polyandry, being illegal in the U.S. should not give the state the right to take children from such unions. Yet, we have agencies in our government who have exerted that power.
The question being raised by many outside the judicial system is whether the Texas Children's Protective Agency was protecting children or attempting to prosecute the polygamists.
No one except the people in charge of the agency know the answer to that question but at least the courts have stepped in and let children return to their own lifestyle and culture. From reading accounts of how the children were behaving, it appears that they were exactly what so many of the "family values" advocates would like. When was the last time you heard a child raised in a "normal" environment asked for the butter churn?
There could be some good come out of this entire unsettling situation. As one reads through the newspaper or hears the news on radio or television, the amount of child abuse in the United States is appalling.
In just one of the newspapers that I read, there were three stories concerning child abuse in that community. Those were just stories that were being written about because of the police blotter. The stories were also about reaction rather than action being taken by the system.
Perhaps the case in Texas can be a learning experience about parenting. No one wants a child to be forced into marriage, at least not in our culture. But, how many cases of child abuse do we read about when it is the boyfriend of the mother or the mother who is but a child herself who has abused the baby?
The most important job in the world is parenting, but in our system, we do not teach that fundamental skill. We in essence let each person engage in on the job training when they raise their children. I know that there are different interpretations of what a good parent is, but surely there must be some common ground.
Perhaps the role of the child protective services should include the teaching or at least setting up some guidelines for the skills needed. It is too late when the courts become involved.
Jack Linden is a retired history professor and a regular contributor to the Gazette-Enterprise editorial page.
On Parenting and the Courts
Posted on June 13th, 2008
There are those who condemn the "activist" courts. Generally, those who do are really saying that the courts are not doing what the individuals want done. There is a long history here in the United States that it has been the courts that ensured our liberties and freedoms against governments. We have seen it again with the court's action in the case of the children in Texas who were taken by a state agency based on an anonymous phone call.
The children have been returned to their parents even though the courts did put on what many consider extreme, if not illegal, restrictions.
There will be outcries from some readers who will say that laws have been broken. Adults may have broken the law against polygyny, the practice of one man having more than one wife. While this is true in cases of our legal system, it certainly wasn't and isn't in many cultures around the world. In the history of Christianity, we have King David who had 18 wives, Abraham had three and according to the Bible, Solomon supposedly had 700. In the United States, according to The Week, polygamy was outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1878 because the court said "polygamy was almost exclusively a feature of the life of Asiatic and African people and that it was contrary to the spirit of Christianity." All this being said, there are still an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 people in the United State who practice polygyny or polyandry.
Polygamy, the term used to incorporate both polygyny and polyandry, being illegal in the U.S. should not give the state the right to take children from such unions. Yet, we have agencies in our government who have exerted that power.
The question being raised by many outside the judicial system is whether the Texas Children's Protective Agency was protecting children or attempting to prosecute the polygamists.
No one except the people in charge of the agency know the answer to that question but at least the courts have stepped in and let children return to their own lifestyle and culture. From reading accounts of how the children were behaving, it appears that they were exactly what so many of the "family values" advocates would like. When was the last time you heard a child raised in a "normal" environment asked for the butter churn?
There could be some good come out of this entire unsettling situation. As one reads through the newspaper or hears the news on radio or television, the amount of child abuse in the United States is appalling.
In just one of the newspapers that I read, there were three stories concerning child abuse in that community. Those were just stories that were being written about because of the police blotter. The stories were also about reaction rather than action being taken by the system.
Perhaps the case in Texas can be a learning experience about parenting. No one wants a child to be forced into marriage, at least not in our culture. But, how many cases of child abuse do we read about when it is the boyfriend of the mother or the mother who is but a child herself who has abused the baby?
The most important job in the world is parenting, but in our system, we do not teach that fundamental skill. We in essence let each person engage in on the job training when they raise their children. I know that there are different interpretations of what a good parent is, but surely there must be some common ground.
Perhaps the role of the child protective services should include the teaching or at least setting up some guidelines for the skills needed. It is too late when the courts become involved.
Jack Linden is a retired history professor and a regular contributor to the Gazette-Enterprise editorial page.