I think Texas officials need to be careful how they handle this. Yes, the FLDS is a cult and yes some members abuse children and the abusers should be rounded up and dealt with. But in their attempts to bring to justice some people, they're rounding up a whole town of people. If the officials go too far, they could face some constitutional issues that could cause their cases to be overturned in favor of religious freedom. Maybe not the most damning of charges, but a lot of the lesser charges that are bound to stem from this raid. But rounding up a whole community of people and seperating children from their mothers...I just don't know how to feel about that yet.
Let's face it...some people want to be FLDS. Some people want to be mainstream Mormons. Some people want to be JWs. And in the USA, one does have the freedom of religion. They have the right to follow the religion of their choice, no matter how stupid it may seem to someone who doesn't need a belief system.
The paradox occurs when you have people who use the religion as a cover to commit crimes or abuse others. How do you clean out the criminals without arresting all the adherents of a strange religion that shuns the rest of the world?
On the other hand, having escaped the Watchtower cult, I know that a lot of these people have never had a choice in whether they want to be part of that faith or not. If they were raised in it, they know nothing else. Maybe once they taste the outside world and freedom, they'll want to be part of mainstream society. And to accomplish that you have to use drastic measures.
Whatever the case, this is not a open and shut case of child abuse or polygamy. This could get ugly and turn into another debacle like the Branch Davidian mess. Maybe not with a physical fire, but with the same aftermath of problems for the goverment who may use un-constitional measures to meet their goals.