Puff Piece on the Predatory Polygamist Compound
Emily Ramshaw has a report in the Dallas Morning News on the current state of the polygamist community known as Yearning For Zion Ranch, Texas. State authorities have removed over 400 children and placed them in foster care as they investigate allegations that underage girls were being forced to have relationships with much older men.
Is it too much to call Ms. Ramshaw's article favorable toward the residents? Here's a snippet describing the idyllic lifestyle that has been lost:
City and county officials say they'd be surprised if the 1,700-acre ranch, which contributed more than $400,000 to the region's property tax rolls last year, shut its doors. But the gloomy desolation of this once-industrious community makes it hard to imagine a resurgence.
Men no longer scale the green roofs of the giant communal residences, making repairs to the immaculate Lincoln Log construction. They no longer split slabs of limestone inside the gaping pink stone quarry, or run spools of electrical cables underground. And the craggy fields and rows of fruit trees, normally dotted with women and children, are empty.
Much of the rest of the article is similar. It is an odd news account given the nature of the allegations against the residents. I would invite others to read the piece for themselves and let me know if you think I am overstating it.
Is it too much to call Ms. Ramshaw's article favorable toward the residents? Here's a snippet describing the idyllic lifestyle that has been lost:
City and county officials say they'd be surprised if the 1,700-acre ranch, which contributed more than $400,000 to the region's property tax rolls last year, shut its doors. But the gloomy desolation of this once-industrious community makes it hard to imagine a resurgence.
Men no longer scale the green roofs of the giant communal residences, making repairs to the immaculate Lincoln Log construction. They no longer split slabs of limestone inside the gaping pink stone quarry, or run spools of electrical cables underground. And the craggy fields and rows of fruit trees, normally dotted with women and children, are empty.
Much of the rest of the article is similar. It is an odd news account given the nature of the allegations against the residents. I would invite others to read the piece for themselves and let me know if you think I am overstating it.
posted by MCO at 8:28 AM
1 Comments:
I read the article- how bizzare! Does this reporter actually believe a picturesque lifestyle is more important than the welfare of children? I also find it interesting she compared the teen pregnancies in the compound to teen pregnancies in mainstream America more than once. In mainstream, we have rebelious and lonely teenage girls getting in the backseat of a car with teenage boys. Are we really supposed to believe that's what was happening on the ranch?
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