As I observed media coverage of the government’s assault on the Mormon sect’s property at El Dorado, Texas, I was struck by the fact that the description being offered of the church’s facilities and activities paralleled those of military installations.
For starters, the activities of the religious group were described as “secretive” in nature, ignoring the fact that the military routinely puts the stamp of “secret” on virtually everything it does – short of participating in a holiday parade. Nor does the church permit non-members access to its property. In the words of the state prosecutor who seems to be directing this assault, “their place of worship is very special to them. It appears to be of great concern to them if a person from outside their congregation even attempts to step inside their place of worship.” But have you ever tried getting onto a military base? If so, haven’t you met with the same “great concern” from armed guards desirous of keeping those “from outside their congregation” from entering?
It has also been reported that this church provides a great deal of on-site housing, as well as provision for the daily needs of its members, so as to make the facility as self-sufficient as possible. Again, if you have been able to get onto military bases, did you fail to notice all of the on-base housing (barracks) as well as churches, schools, recreational facilities, gas stations, movie theaters, medical offices, PX stores, and other means of accommodating the needs of their members?
One cable news report informed us that church officials wore insignias indicating the level of their authority within the organization. Need I point out the obvious?
Finally, the stated purpose for this governmental assault on the church has been that young, teenage girls have been the victims of rape and forced marriages. If this is true, there is no moral defense one could possibly make of such practices. But the government is hardly in a position to make such a condemnation. In a March 31, 2008 news story, the Los Angeles Times carried an op-ed piece informing us of what was known ever before that date: the frequent rapes of women soldiers by their fellow soldiers. One woman was reportedly raped by a military physician, another by her commanding officer. The author concludes that “women in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.”
Self-righteousness is all the more difficult to tolerate when it is voiced by those trying to distinguish their own dark-side practices. The killing of over one million innocent persons in Iraq in retaliation for someone else’s murder of 3,000 people on 9/11; and the unfounded Iraqi threat to use “weapons of mass destruction” upon America, while American politicians threaten another innocent nation, Iran, with the use of such weapons, should make us aware of the deadly dangers of psychological projection. Such practices seem to be occurring, once again, on the plains of Texas.
