SPLINTERS
Often, when a group of people depart the herd to "do their own thing", they are described as a "splinter group". This could apply, I suppose, to anything from a golf club to a para-military group. I have heard it used most often when describing religious sects, off-shoots from a base faith, that take a wrong turn, misconstrue a passage from the owners manual, and shave their heads and go off to live on Wheat Thins and cheese in some far off land. An example which has garnered many headlines in recent months is the polygamist division of the Mormon faith.
Just months ago, one of the upper-level prophets, Ron Jeffs, was convicted and imprisoned on a variety of charges, the hallmark of them being sexual assault on a child. Sadly, the "splinter" in this splinter group is the core belief that young girls are to be given in "marriage" to an older male member of the sect immediately after their first menstruation. This means all young girls, regardless of age, are thrown to the wolves, so to speak, at an age of anywhere from 11 - 15 years of age. Indeed, so pressing is the time factor, that a bed or mattress is kept right next to the "alter" where these ceremonies are held. It is sad indeed, and though these stories surface on a regular basis, they are normally in and out of the news cycle in just a few days, and fade to the back of the memory bus in no time.
Now, in San Angelo, Texas, the sprawling "Yearning For Zion" ranch, a compound really, has captured headlines after a young girl made a whispered phone call to authorities last week, saying that young girls and women were routinely sexually and physically abused. Authorities raided the compound and are in the midst of an extensive investigation, but already enough has been learned to once again cast a weary light on the concept of organized religion. The more one learns, the more questions are raised. How does such a place exit for so long without notice? Construction began on the place in 2003. It is really a town unto itself, with everything needed to survive without venturing into the "outside world". Indeed, women and children are not allowed to leave the compound. Ever. The outside world holds many dangers and women who leave are considered "contaminated" after that and are shunned. Ron Jeffs, before prison, had amassed a following of over 6,000 people. He would recruit girls, only under 6 years of age, from the membership and bring them to the ranch without their parents. Girls over 6 were also considered "contaminated".
Imagine being so broken that you are involved in a group like this in the first place, but then further that you would allow your 6 year old daughter to be taken from you by the "prophet", in this case, Ron Jeffs. Jeffs, and all the other men I have seen so far, epitomize creepiness and ooze danger, and yet here are parents, entire families, dedicating themselves to this "religion". It always leaves me awestruck at the vulnerability of people and then the abysmal circumstances they will allow themselves to be swept into, and in the case of these polygamists, endure for the entire lives.
Over 400 children were taken from the "ranch" and are currently being counseled and foster homes are being sought. The girls are so brainwashed from childhood that they don't even trust their own judgment, have been nearly unable to speak, and have no sense of the world or existence outside of the zoo-like existence that they have been trained to survive. It will be a daunting task, no doubt, to bring these children to a place where they know happiness and can live full, enjoyable lives. Many of the adult women left on their own and will no doubt have their own burden to bear, being victims of abuse themselves not least among them, and having turned over their daughters to a swarm of older men probably being premier among them.
It's an interesting world, isn't it? All this in one little corner of the world and so much more we don't know about. My late father always questioned whether religion itself was not the undoing of the world. A spiritual man himself, he shunned the concept of religion as most people know it. As I consider the recent travails of the Catholic Church, our current battle against Muslim extremists, and all the other cases throughout history where an intolerant religion has been the root of the problem, I wonder if he may have been right.
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