Several of our readers have asked for the Beehive Standard Weekly to speak out on the recent raids on polygamists in Texas. Uniquely, our staff consists of lawyers who also happen to be Mormon, who also happen to be journalists. To that end, perhaps we can't avoid having or expressing an opinion.

To that end, we offer the conclusion before the commentary, so no one can misquote us without knowing that they are misquoting us.

Conclusion:  Our conclusion is that though there may be specific and individual examples of violations of several laws of the State of Texas relating to underage marriage, the state and federal authorities have also violated the most sacred law of all, the United States Constitution. In the balance, religious prejudice and bigotry has tainted the actions of authorities, the media and the peeping-tom public. It may be one of the ugliest displays of religious intolerance since -- well, since the Mormons were driven out of the United States.

With that said, this is not an apology for those who have violated the law or abused children. Those participating in such low crimes should be brought to justice. The FLDS cannot hide behind their faith for attrocities against children. Religion is not an excuse for violating the laws which are clear and unambiguous.

Collective persecution, however, is not the way to obtain justice.  In the majority, the people who were subject to the raid were living peaceful lives, though their religious practices are clearly not mainstream.

Some may view this act of Texas authorities as America taking a stand against abusive religious doctrines. In many ways, this is a test of the American system.  Either we believe in religious freedom, or we don't.  If we don't, then let's not act like hypocrites and let's rescind the right under the Bill of Rights. We can't continue to hold up litmus tests for public office and persecute those who don't hold mainstream religious beliefs and claim at the same time to have religious freedom.  We either do, or we don't.

The classic statement of the week came from an ex-polygamist who was quoted in the Deseret News stating that she was unaware of anyone other than the polygamists complaining about religious persecution.

Hmmmmm.  Perhaps Ms. Evans, who is acting as a self-appointed expert and an advisor to the Texas Authorities, should read the dozens upon dozens of legal articles questioning the authority and constitutionality of the actions of the storm troopers.

From a purely legal standpoint, this is a very troubling case that is ripe for serious scrutiny. Though a baptist judge in Texas may feel he or she is doing the "right" thing, many in the legal community cannot believe what they are hearing or seeing.

To review, we have an anonymous girl who makes two phone calls to an abuse hotline. Despite the incredible assertion that she is a prisoner against her own will, one of the phone calls goes on for 42 minutes. Those are some very liberal prison rules in my experience.

She claims that her husband abuses her and that she married at age 14 or 15, depending upon who is telling the story.

Authorities only ask her name. They don't ask her to meet them at a certain location. They don't tell her that they are going to raid the joint and need to identify her to protect her. They don't tell her to bring her child to the fence and they will meet her there. They don't say to her, steal a truck and we will meet you at the road.  Apparently, the crisis was so severe and urgent that they took a few days to gather a search warrant that was limited to this one girl and this one incident.

Going in to the raid, the authorities, do not look for the one girl. Instead they round up all the children and throw them into a van that reads "Baptist Church" on the outside. Nice. For an encore, they will be rounding up the children in Harlem and putting them in a van marked "Skin Heads."

The authorities assert that once they were in the compound, they had probable cause to search for similar problems that were in open view. So every home got ripped apart, every child was examined, every 13 year old got asked sexually detailed questions (to which some probably received a general sex education class they missed by being home schooled).

Of course, the "counselors" brought in came from all over, including the local evangelical churches. Obviously, the authorities thought that what these polygamist children needed was a good "Christian" counselor. What they didn't need, the authorities determined, were their mothers and fathers, or trusted members of their tight-knit society.

Then the authorities demanded to have access to their holy temple. The men surrounded the temple and fell to their knees and prayed.  When they saw that they were not being listened to, nor their petition to keep the temple sacred, they began to cry.  Of course, the response of the authorities to this monsterous display of anti-social behavior was to barge into the temple. One man resisted and was quickly arrested and charged with terrorism and sent to Guantanimo Bay.  Of course, we are kidding, but I'm sure the resistance was hardly noteworthy.

Inside the "authorities" found beds with sheets. Clearly a violation of everything ethical and humane. According to affidavits, one of the beds looked like it had been slept in and had the hair from a girl's head. Once again, this is a certain sign of sexual abuse -- or a sign that a woman wanted to take a nap on a bed -- certainly the National Enquirer will want to know.

At a subsequent news conference, one of the spokesmen stated that he had had an "informant" on the "inside" for the last four years.  One of the comments of the informant was that men would take young girls to beds in the temple to consumate the marriage immediately after the marriage.

Something smells like bad acting.

Of course, if true and 50 year old men were bedding down 13 year olds in a holy temple, this will make for justified headlines. The evidence to support this accusation, however, seems very slim. If the "informant" really knew the facts, then he himself would have necessarily been an accomplice. If it was a woman informant who was a victim, then the raid should have occured 4 years ago with the "informant" stepping into police protection.

So now there is an informant, who remains anonymous (along with all of his or her prejudices) and a 16 year old girl with a baby that cannot be identified or found -- despite the surprise raid.  At first, the authorities said they believed they had the girl in their possession. Now they are changing their tune. Perhaps the informant can help -- not.

Of course, all of this justifies taking nearly 400 neighboring children into protective custody and robbing them of their parents.  Yes, their parents might be strange to look at and have strange beliefs, but is this the right approach in prosecuting over one 16 year old girl who cannot even be found?

The authorities say they have several pregnant teenagers. Lest we forget, a nineteen year old girl is still a "teenager" technically, so why aren't the authorities telling us the ages of the girls who are pregnant and instead giving us general statements like "teenagers."

Assuming, arguendo, that these "teenagers" may have been victimized, how does this relate to the other 380 children? The local authorities have generalized the crimes, if any crimes have been commited, to such a massive extent that they have essentially erased the rights of those individuals and their families who have nothing to do with the specific violaters.

If there is one violation or eight violations of the law, then take into custody those individuals involved in the immediate crime. Instead, the authorities have lumped all of the children into one whole regardless of the personal standards of the individual children or their families.

In the trial against the FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, it became very clear that respective families could reject arranged marriages and that physical force, other than mental duress, was not part of the equation. If physical abuse was not a threat, and the asserted crimes involved only a few, then why were the local authorities compelled to take every last child? How are the authorities better parents, better mothers, better friends than those immediately in the surroundings of the community of which the children are most familiar.

It is hard to speak of specific accusations knowing that the authorities may know more than they are telling. The troubling aspect of this matter is that the authorities seem to have acted as if this was an immediate emergency. The facts as disclosed do not merit the level of action.

But these are polygamists goes the call! They have more than one wife!

Of course, the official word is that the local authorities are only addressing the issues of abuse and exploitation of children. The authorities are crystal clear on this point. Sadly, if they have nothing more than what they have asserted, they are likely going to face a serious challenge from one to a hundred of these children or their parents.

And so, the authorities are very motivated to find something -- anything that will free them from the potential of accusations, liability. With that type of motivation, what hope does a group of backward religious isolationists have against 300 lawyers, a local judge and accusations from an anonymous caller. The answer, of course, is no chance at justice.

The media, has unfortunately decided it would rather report on every last rumor than seeking the truth, whatever that truth might be. This is clearly going to be about prosecution by persecution to avoid the obvious questions of religious liberty and violations of civil rights. Perhaps there will be some who will demand a greater inquiry into whether such extreme actions against innocent children was justified. One can only hope that the authorities find great harm that was waiting in the wing. Truthful harm, not made up for the purpose of self-preservation. Sadly, the facts have yet to bear that out. We may read in twenty years of the cover-ups and the misinformation campaign to protect the law and not the law abiding. For now, the only true victims are the hundreds of children who only have white walls and temporary quarters to call home and no one to trust or call to at night. That is the real tragedy and perhaps why the authorities should have respected religious liberty a little more than they did.