Quote From: meowmumtu
This show has not aired yet, so I'm not sure which religious group they belong to but Id hazard a guess that they are Amish from the pictures. It doesn't matter too much which group, Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite etc. The thing is that these groups live very well organized communal lives. Their religion is the corner stone of each group and the rules and laws of these groups differ from the mainstream of American life.
I dint know yet if this couple married in the secular world, but if they DIDN'T, if they married under the laws and rules of the community where the Father now lives, then the Mother KNEW that according to those rules..the children belong to the community !! NOT the parents alone..but the whole community.
Its not the way of those of us who do not live in one of these long established religious communities, but its their way and always has been. These are not "crackpot" people, they are very good citizens all around...they are just different.
Dint be too quick to Judge !
BJ
I disagree with your post that if the mother knew the rules of the community, the children belong to the community. The children belong to the parents, and in the case of divorce, the children should get to be with each parent. A child doesn NOT belong to a community.
I happen to be from an ultra orthodox community. Children are not kidnapped there, but if there is a divorce and one parent leaves the community, they go through hell to get visitation. It happens to be that I left the community together with my husband and son, but I have a friend who is divorced and is having a hard time getting visitation, and those friends that do have joint custody of their children have to be careful, often pretending to be religious, so the ex doesn't cause problems and try to disrupt the custody arrangement.
What if I had left without my husband? Just because my views on the religion I was brought up with have changed, I should be denied the right to raise my son? My son surely does not belong to any community! In fundamentalist religions this is especially true. Children are often married off young, before they have a chance to explore and find out if this is the life they want. Since birth control is out of the question in many cases, they have children quickly. What then? What happens if she/he wants to leave. Do they have to give up their children? That should not happen. Religion should never come between a parent and child, or between family in general. Unfortunately, life has taught me that that is all too often the case.
