Remember the Alamo -- Tony Alamo

America has a doctrine that very clearly separates our government from our various religions, a definite separation of Church and State. Our founding fathers wrote about the need to keep the two institutions detached way back in 1791 when adopting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Being a career journalist I especially like the First Amendment. You know, the one that guarantees free speech and makes it illegal to infringe on freedom of the press? It's also the amendment that includes language guaranteeing the "free exercise of religion" and prohibits the government from taking steps to prohibit it.

The amendment does not guarantee a citizen's right to abuse children in the name of God, marry multiple wives, withhold taxes from the government or use deadly snakes in services. But all of that -- and more -- has occurred in the name of religion.

Consider characters like 74 year-old Tony Alamo who runs a Christian ministry headquartered in tiny, isolated Fouke, Arkansas. Federal agents moved into the compound last week to rescue several young girls. The FBI arrested Alamo a few days later at a motel in Arizona on suspicion of transporting minors across state lines for sexual purposes.

Alamo (who was born Bernie Hoffman to a Jewish family in Missouri) first began to wrap himself in the constitutionally protected church cloak 40 years ago when he started his Christian street ministry in California. He's been controversial ever since.

In 1988, law enforcement seized three young boys from Alamo's property and returned them to their father's custody. An 11 year-old said Alamo ordered four men to hit him with a paddle 140 times for some minor offense. The preacher dodged child abuse charges.

In 1991, Alamo was acquitted on a charge of threatening to kidnap a federal judge. In 1994, he went to prison for evading $7.9 million dollars in taxes stemming from his fancy denim jacket business. During trial the prosecutor hinted at Alamo's misbehavior with married women and young girls in his congregation. Former members of his church claim they saw girls as young as 13 forced to marry men decades older.

Flash forward to September 2008. After a two year long child pornography investigation Alamo's Arkansas property was raided and six girls were taken into custody. The girls, between 12 and 14 years old are suspected of being forced to participate in a pornography business. Alamo, who has said that "consent is puberty" when it comes to sex, denies anything untoward happened.

"I've kicked a lot of people out of the church," he said, "And they'll say anything to get back at me."

The doctrine of separation of Church and State sounds great on its face but today there are lots of people who willy-nilly declare themselves head of a "church" and then hide behind that designation to get away with crimes.

Members of law enforcement have told me they have had deep suspicions about what goes on at all sorts of cult-like compounds, like the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas. Or at the smaller scale but just as disturbing property of the self described messiah Wayne Bent in Northern New Mexico where its alleged Bent groomed young girls by "laying naked" with them.

Officials across America have said they've wanted to move in on properties to investigate suspicions of polygamy, incest and child abuse but were told by town lawyers that without very specific criminal complaints their hands are tied.

I'm pretty sure that in 1802 when Thomas Jefferson wrote about the "wall of separation" between religion and government he didn't have the protection of these charlatans in mind.

I have no answers but I wonder if the specter of that first amendment protection is one of the reasons child sex abuse by Catholic priests flourished for as long as it did. Did it have something to do with Jim Jones and his People's Temple being allowed to flee America to the jungles of Guyana where 900 of the faithful died? I wonder to what extent the doctrine continues to cripple authorities from rescuing children trapped in polygamist compounds where girls are forced to wed.

You or your next door neighbor wouldn't be allowed to marry multiple, simultaneous spouses. You'd certainly be carted off to prison if you tried to marry a 12 year-old girl. If you ran a lucrative business and camouflaged it as a church to avoid taxes you'd likely find yourself in a courtroom. Yet the century old "wall" Jefferson referred to continues to protect what we know is criminal behavior.

Separation of Church and State allows Americans to worship as they please - or to not worship at all. It must never be changed. But the first amendment should stop being used to shield criminals from justice, especially when the victims are children.

Diane Dimond can be reached at [e-mail]. Read more of her columns at her website: www.DianeDimond.net

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

Diane, you need to look into Paul Crouch's activities at the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Another evangelical operation intended to glorify the preachers themselves and not God. I mean, let's start with the gauche, decadent architecture of their facilities in Tustin, CA and move on to their seven homes, the allegations of sexual impropriety and all the rest of it.

[JScott]

And they're still passing around that newsletter, I've seen it flying around a parking lot.

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

JScott - I remember the first time I was assigned to cover a Tony Alamo story - that was back in the late 80's and he had his faithful handing out those crazy tri-fold flyers back then!
Some things never change ... and there will always be people looking for SOMETHING to believe in.
~ DD

[Glorybe29]

Sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church is still surviving in 2008 and most people think because the Bishops have convened and put forth a feeble effort and paid off billions to those who have survived the abuse; that all is well. It isn't! It is still flourishing, as it has been since the beginging of the RCC. It is the biggest church to have continued on for centuries without any supervision on anyone' s part. The people & the priests [ a secret law priests must up hold to keep the church free from scandal] are hog tied because they cannot report the evil to the law enforcement for fear of excommunication by bringing scandal to The RC Church.
I hear that GW Bush gave immunity to all these pedophiles of the RCC in 2005. Can someone find out if this is a true statement?
These people are still spiritually murdering our children and the older adults that have survived their abuse are still dealing with the crimes perpetrated on them as youngsters.The Rico laws could be used to defeat them since they try and avoid reponsibility and use the *SOL to get out of doing what they should do. *statute of limitiations...Tony Alamo is a hickey on the throat of the pope.Get the BIG BOYS! I'll bet they have something to do with the Econ problems the USA is facing TODAY !

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Glorybe29 - that cannot be true that the President gave immunity to "all these pedophiles of the RCC in 2005." There have been several of them charged and tossed out of the church since then.
I do agree with you though about prosecutors using the RICO conspiracy statute. I think they tried that in California if I'm rememebering correctly and the church settled IMMEDIATELY ... paying off victims and removing offending priests. It is the one true weapon prosecutors have and I wonder why they don't use it more often! ~ DD