I just had something happen that frustrates me so much I don’t know what to do. I’m sure we all remember when the FLDS children were taken from their homes in Texas and the emotional videos of the removal. Well, my 4 year old happened to see some of the videos the FLDS posted to their site. I wish she wouldn’t have seen them, but she did and she simply CAN NOT forget them.
Well, we just heard a siren and she asked me, “Mom, what is that noise?”
I said, “It’s a siren, honey.”
“Oh, like a cop car?”
I respond with “Yes, or an ambulance maybe” because I can see that she is getting upset.
Then, the comment that I knew was coming came. In a high pitched, worried voice she exclaimed “Mom, I don’t want the cops to take me!”
I reassured her they aren’t coming for her and redirected her attention to something more pleasant, but my question is, what am I supposed to do? I would like to teach her to trust law enforcement, but because she saw those videos she is constantly worried that they are going to take her away. I don’t know how to fix this.
Merrywives' Blog 
My best suggestion would be to tell her about the faithfulness of God and how He can be trusted. Because while it would be nice if putting a badge on someone made them incapable of doing wrong, we live in the real world where our courts are corrupt and police serve the interests of the state and ‘do their job’ even when it is detrimental to the people.
Since my Mom had a relative raped by a police officer she had no intention of teaching us to trust someone just because they wore a badge.
Indeed if power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, it is reasonable to conclude that especially if someone is in a position of power any trust extended to them should be earned by the individual.
I wonder at how Christians still claim Romans 13 says obey civil rulers when these rulers do not fit the description given.
I am thankful there are Pastors like Sheldon Emry that can show in scripture how faithful our God is and the coming fulfillment of His promises. In God I trust.
The solution is risibly simple: don’t let your daughter view online content that is inappropriate for her development level.
Unless you are ready to have a frank talk with her about what statutory rape is, you cannot adequately explain the YFZ raid and discuss how it differs from her own situation.
I’m sorry to have to remind you but YOU are in control of what your 4-year-old views. She should not be allowed unsupervised online access.
Dear Meketaten,
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I agree she should not have ever seen those videos. Unfortunately, I am unable to personally monitor every moment of my daughter’s life because I have to work. And yes, I spoke with her babysitter about this and made my feelings known and asked that she not let my daughter see any more of those videos.
Oh, and before you worry that I have hired incompetent supervision for my child, just let me say that my babysitter does not generally spend great amounts of time online while she is working. During the time of the FLDS raid, everyone I know was in a state of shock and confusion. It pretty much consumed everyone’s thoughts, and we all wanted as much information as we could get about the goings on in Texas.
Thank you for reading our blog and offering your comments.
Dear Jolene,
Thank you for your suggestion. Teaching children about the Lord is always a good idea.
I am terribly sorry about your mom’s relative.
Thank you for sharing your story.
It’s amazing that U. Warren is derided and spoken evil of like he’s some kind of monster because he has “absolute power over us his followers” while at the same time you’re concerned about how to teach your child how to trust “law enforcement” So U. Warren enforces the laws of God and is considered ‘bad’ for doing so, while the LE enforce the laws of man and are held up as something great. Why aren’t you worried about the “absolute power” of the almighty state? This great nation of ours was founded by Patriots who questioned the “absolute power” of the state while respecting the “absolute power” of Almighty God! After all our ‘rights’ come from God and are to be preserved by a ‘legitimate’ government!
I’ve got a suggestion: If you don’t want to educate your child about what happens when a government runs amuck then maybe you can pick her up a game of ‘grand theft auto’!
Dear Cheese,
I have not “derided or spoken evil of” Warren nor have any of the other authors on this blog. My intent with this post was to show frustration at the state of things with the government and how it has a lasting negative impact even on those who were not directly involved in the Texas fiasco. I do not intend to teach my children that everything law enforcement officials do is right and proper, but I won’t teach them that they are all evil either. Let’s face it….there are good and bad people in law enforcement just like in every other line of work.
I would simply like my children to be comfortable enough around police that they would go up to one and get help if they are lost or if they have been robbed or had some other crime committed against them.