I was born and raised a Baptist— a Southern Baptist. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior at the age of 7 and rededicated my life to Him at a Billy Graham Crusade in Laurel, Mississippi, when I was a sophomore in high school. My beliefs are who I am! What would I do then if I had to choose between my beliefs and havng custody of my children? That is the decision the mothers in the polygamist cult are having to make.

The mothers, many like me, were born and raised in their environment–it’s part of who they are. I don’t profess to know a lot about their religion, most of what I have learned is from the newspaper or television. On Oprah’s Thursday show they had Lisa Ling go into the compound, although her access was very limited, and they also had a former member on the show. I learned from that show that these people are lead to believe the outside world is evil, their “priestheads” have the ultimate authority over them, and they are schooled more about their religion than they are educated about anything else. It is their religious duty to do as the “priesthead” commands, even if that means giving over your 14 year old girl to be married to an older man, or having your son removed from the compound forever. It’s easy to understand now why the state of Texas has determined that it is not safe for those children to be raised in that environment.

In that situation…to me it’s a no-brainer–I’d chose my children! The Bible tells us in Psalms that “children are a gift from the Lord” and throughout the Bible it speaks of the innocence of children—thus, I don’t see my God asking me to give up my children. As a matter of fact, he commands that I “train them”–and He doesn’t mean in the ways of the “marital bed”.

While their beliefs don’t allow for contact with unbelievers, my beliefs want me to go out and share them with others. Their leaders are given total authority over the decisions of their people, while the leaders of my church give people the opportunity to choose a loving Savior whose Son died for me. Their beliefs allow for a man to have many wives, while mine allows for 2 people to join together for a lifetime.

Needless to say, the two churches are nothing alike. I am grateful to have been born into a family whose beliefs are more widely accepted. I feel desperately sorry for the polygamist moms, they have a lot of choices to make, and none of them will be easy!