For more than 200 years the Constitution of the United States of America has enshrined freedom of religion through the First Amendment, which states in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Although this country has by no means been perfect in following this practice, most religious groups in the United States have been able to freely worship in whatever way they please.

In the past week, events in Texas have rekindled the debate over what kinds of religious practices are legitimate and what practices violate the law, warranting state intervention. In the case at hand, Texas law enforcement officers raided a compound affiliated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. FLDS is a splinter group from the Mormon Church and adheres to the belief that men and women must engage in polygamy to reach the inner circle of heaven. In 2007, the sect had a high profile run-in with the law when Warren Jeffs, its leader, was arrested on charges of arranging a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

In the most recent incident, Texas Child Protection Services received an anonymous call from a 16-year-old girl in the El Dorado compound alleging that she was a victim of physical abuse and that older sect members were marrying and impregnating girls under 16 (in violation of Texas law). Since the raid on April 4, law enforcement officials have removed more than 500 women and children from the compound to interview them and protect them while an extensive search of the area is conducted.

Given the scale of the raid and the massive number of women and children involved, it is no surprise that a debate has broken out over whether or not the government should have intervened and over the status of polygyny in the U.S.

The practice of polygyny is currently outlawed throughout the United States. By itself, polygyny does not seem to be a particular threatening practice. After all, if three or more consenting adults all wish to live together or be married in some combination, I don’t think it is really any of my business. In fact, I don’t even think it should necessarily be illegal.

However, the practices of FLDS give me pause. First of all, their leader has been implicated in attempts to force underage girls to marry. With the current raid exposing a number of underage girls pregnant or already caring for children, it seems likely that the polygamists within FLDS have gone far beyond the practice of polygamy. Marrying and impregnating 14- and 15-year-old girls binds them to the religious movement and leaves them with no other choice but to remain with their base of support in FLDS, regardless of living conditions.

For the most part, the government has left FLDS alone. In fact, law enforcement agencies in Texas said that up until the aforementioned phone call they received in March, they had no probable cause to intervene at the compound. The reluctance to confront the sect is understandable, as the memory of the 1993 Waco Siege, in which more than 70 people died during a standoff with a splinter group of the Seventh-Day Adventists, remains poignant.

However, if the investigation into the El Dorado compound reveals widespread child abuse and the violation of state laws on marriage and sexual activity with minors, I think more action needs to be initiated.

There are approximately 6,000 to 8,000 members in FLDS. The main location of the FLDS church is well-known, and the vast majority of the group lives in two towns: Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Like the compound in Texas, the groups in Arizona and Utah have also been left alone for the most part.

Now, though, these communities need to face greater scrutiny. The state or federal government should take the lead in ensuring the proper treatment of the children in these communities and ensure that state laws concerning the age of consent and marriage are kept, particularly since it appears older sect members are abusing their power and committing these heinous acts.

The Associated Press estimates there are 40,000 polygamists living across the western United States. While many of these people may be in benign relationships, the facts coming out of the most recent raid shows that this is not a reality in Texas. Freedom of religious expression is not a license to flout reasonable state laws aimed at protecting minors. Either FLDS needs to shape up and show they will comply with state laws, or they need to be stopped before committing any more crimes.

Andrew Wagner ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in computer science and political science.