Wait, so that polygamist ranch raid might have been based on a false police report?

[Sacred Jellybean]

Because they oppress the people inside their cults, of course! How should we allow groups to treat people as horribly as the FLDS does its members, particularly women? Have you heard any of the stuff they say? It's incredibly creepy...

I don't know what type of oppression is going on, aside from forcing girls to marry men. Certain religious practices should be made illegal, I think, to stop the spread of cults (Scientology comes to mind), but as long as no one's getting hurt, people should believe whatever they choose.

It depends on how people are being oppressed, but I'm sure whatever example you give, I'll agree that it should be illegal.

This is an entire society which is told that girls should be married in their early teens into polygamous marriages with older men. Women should have no contact with anyone outside the cult, and men should have as little contact as possible. Education, schooling, work, equality... none of those things apply.

This stuff is indeed creepy, but how much of it should be illegal? Girls being forced/coerced into marrying older men, that's definitely wrong. Cult insiders having no contact with the outside world is creepy, but shouldn't be illegal. People born inside the cult should be given the option to stay or leave (actually, the option to stay or leave at any time should be granted to all members).

"Consent" really doesn't apply here, I'd say... and anyway, polygamy is inherently wrong because it is, at its core, unequal: multiple women, one man? There is no way such a relationship can be fair.

People who enter a relationship with others define for themselves what they believe to be fair, what the relationship consists of, etc. They should be able to practice that without interference from the law. A vast majority of people agree that a relationship should be between only two people, with the responsibilities/roles of each person evenly divided, and will continue to do so. If a woman doesn't mind having the attention from her husband divided between other wives, who are we to say she can't? The same can apply on the inverse, a woman could have multiple husbands if the husbands are okay with it. If they don't like it, they can find someone else.

That is one of the cores of their faith. It is also going to be the centerpiece of the case against them.

These people should have been shut down nationwide over 50 years ago, at least... if this is what it takes to finally give one state an excuse to act (and shut them down because of their crimes, the evidence for which can only be found once the investigation has begun -- DNA testing to prove that girls were having children before it is legal, marriage "licenses", etc. I can't really condemn it... but yeah, she shouldn't get off just because a good thing happened in bringing down this group. If this is true, she did something illegal too and should be punished for it.

If I heard more of the crimes this cult has committed, I'd probably agree that they should be shut down, but they shouldn't be shut down for polygamy alone (not that polygamy alone was ever the reason, it's obviously more to do with consent/minors/abuse/etc).