I have been trying to follow the case of children in the polygomist cult in San Angelo.  I’ve watched as those 416 children have been housed away from their families, and seen the sadness on the faces of the mothers as they try to understand what is happening to their families.

There is not a doubt in my mind that those children and most of those mothers have been abused inside that compound.  But, do they know it?  They have never known anything different, and they have been told all their life that this is the way their lives should be.  They’ve been told the outside world is evil so it’s easy to understand their reluctance to talk to the officials who are trying to help them.

It makes me ponder my own beliefs— everything that I am or believe is largely due to the way I was raised.  Whether consciously or subconsciously we raise our children in much the same manner that we were raised.  That begs the question–do we do what we do because we really believe it or because our parents believed it and told us to!?!  Did the mothers in that compound force their young daughters to marry once they reached puberty because they believed it was best for them or because that’s all they knew?    Parenting is a hard job, so we need to have a good handle on our own beliefs because we will pass them on to our children.