Backwards kids up in the air

Just heard that Txas may have to give back the scads of kids they took from the polygamist compound under suspicion of "child abuse". I have complicated feelings about that whole situation. Do I think it's right to marry off pre-teen girls in this day and age? No, of course not. And I am vehemently against any form of child abuse, for sure. But removing all the children from a community, regardless of age, risk of danger and trauma caused the kids who haven't been victimized is a strange call to have made. The government response struck me as a modern Pied Piper. Remember, he was that vindictive creepy guy who didn't get paid for his services so marched all the kids away instead. I feel like the state of Texas decided to take all those kids because that community flagrantly bent the law by being "married" to more than one woman.

And speaking of marriage. I am confused. I thought marriage was all about being legal. That's what gays are fighting for, after all, a legitimate, legally-protective, LEGAL union called "marriage". So, these polygamists who marry one wife and either never legally marry the subsequent wives, or divorce the previous wife before marrying the next (and staying with both) aren't actually breaking the law, then, right? It's more like having more than one baby-mama, and everyone just getting along. If that's not legal, I know a few neighborhoods that should be on the list of targets...

But back to the kids thing. I was a foster parent for 2 years of my early 20s. I made a difference, I was the best foster mom I could be. There was not a moment I didn't realize the pain of the kids in my care. After all, they didn't belong with me. They belonged somewhere else. Potentially screwing up some 4 year old's life by injecting fear of abandonment is not protecting that child. Many kids of divorce live that life every day and it's a tough monkey to get off your back. What does a kid have if they can't trust that there will be a continuing thread through their childhood: parental love, a place they belong. These Texas kids probably felt like they'd been dropped onto another planet.

I'm glad the supreme court is making the local government justify what they did. Any child in danger should be removed. But we should be careful that we aren't condoning removal of kids because they're parents value things different from us. That borders on criminal in itself. More on this later.