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Helen,
It's pretty insulting to say "read up on the FLDS way of life" to me. Not only have I read up on it, I've spent time in communities where there are FLDS. My dad's family is from rural Utah and I've spent many summers there. I've also read several books by FLDS, including Dorothy Allred Solomon's. (How much have you read?)
The notion that these girls are "brainwashed" is not accurate. They are enculturated to a set of beliefs and values---just like anybody else in any other culture. There are plenty of cultures where teenagers are considered adults, by the way, and plenty of cultures where there are arranged marriages. I don't see us invading India, though, even though many Indians believe in arranging marriages for people as children, and then having them start living together as 13 or 14 year olds.
I agree that as long as the FLDS are in the state of Texas, they should be required to comply with Texas' age of consent. But other than that? We should bugger off. Their children aren't any more brainwashed than yours are. They live in a given culture and they take its dictates for granted, just like your kids take your culture and its dictates for granted.
There is NO difference between "our" kids getting pregnant at 13 and their kids getting pregnant at 13. Our kids are enculturated into a culture that vaunts and values promiscuity, sexual libertinism, and the routine sexualization of women. Our culture teaches girls that their primary value is as sexual objects. We don't allow kids that young to marry, but if you ask me, the lack of a ceremony doesn't change much.
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