Indians and polygamists

Tim Giago:  Parallels in Texas and Indian CountryThe upstanding and righteous Christian community had to do something. The people living near them had a religion that was so different than their own that it had to be considered as heathen. They didn’t believe in Jesus Christ so they had to be on the wrong path.

What’s more they were living in deep sin by practicing polygamy. Why some of the men had as many as three or four wives. What kind of damage was this doing to the innocent children?

The Christian community saw only one conclusion. They had to go in and rescue the children. If that meant sending law enforcement officials into the community to forcibly take the children from their parents, so be it. It would lead to a much better life for the children so the parents be damned. After all, what did these backward people know about raising children properly?

No, I am not talking about the fiasco at San Angelo, Texas. I am talking about what happened to the children of Native Americans across America in the late 1800s. Thousands of children were ripped from the arms of their mothers and fathers and shipped off to far away schools that would endeavor to turn them into God fearing Christians, but not before they were shorn of their identities, their culture, religion and traditions.Some history on the subject:The mainstream media once again makes the mistake of reporting that this is the largest such happening in U. S. history. They made the same mistake when reporting on the school shootings at the college in Virginia calling it the largest such massacre in American history. How could they have overlooked Sand Creek, Washita or Wounded Knee, to name but a few of the terrible massacres committed against Native Americans?

When Indian children were rounded up and herded into boarding schools throughout America at the turn of the century the mass media went along with it because they believed it was the right thing to do. Indians had no basic rights, civil or human. In order to make America a homogenous society, certain measures had to be taken. The end, as society records it, would justify the means.And:Polygamy occurred in the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation for obvious reasons that were apparently too difficult to discern by the clergy. If a warrior died by accident or in war he usually left a widow and children. What would happen to his family after his death? There were no welfare programs or commodity distributions to help feed, clothe and shelter the family. They would certainly die if not for the traditional practice of having able bodied warriors taken them under their protection as second wives and of course second families. It was the nasty minds of the Christians that turned this cultural practice into something dirty.

I make the analogy to the San Angelo fiasco to point out that it is never a good thing when one segment of society forces its beliefs upon another.Comment:  If the people involved aren't coerced or brainwashed, I see nothing inherently wrong with polygamy.