“We’re a peaceful people, and we love our children dearly.”

— Lucille Nelson, 24, the mother of a child taken into
state custody from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Eldorado

One can believe that the young women quoted above is telling the absolute truth and still agree with the state of Texas’ decision to take custody of 416 children housed in a mysterious religious community in West Texas.

After two days of sometimes chaotic hearings, District Judge Barbara L. Walther ruled that there was sufficient evidence of both sexual and physical abuse within the compound to separate all 416 children from their parents until individual hearings could be held for each case.

It was the right decision, young Lucille Nelson’s plaintive declaration notwithstanding. Officials who entered the compound last week testified of finding evidence that polygamy was practiced there, with girls as young as 12 or 13 being coerced into “marriages” with much older men who had more than one “wife.” Many of the children taken into custody by law enforcement officials were apparently the offspring of these polygamous marriages.

Just how many may be determined later. Judge Walther ordered DNA testing for each child, and presumably for the approximately 1,500 adults in the compound as well. When the bizarre family ties are sorted out, hearings will then be conducted to see which children, if any, should be released to their parents and which should not. Until then, the state will care for all the children, as it should

This is one of those cases that inflames passions and invites drastic actions that can end up going horribly wrong. It was 15 years ago this month that a madman named David Koresh instituted a standoff in another religious compound — this one near Waco — that resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and 174 members of Koresh’s Branch David­ian sect, more than 20 of the latter women and children.

The outcome of last week’s confrontation at Eldorado did not repeat the tragedy of Waco, but it reminded us of it, and of the troubling circumstances that present themselves when basic American rights are abused to the point that innocent lives are put in danger.

Men and women of good will cannot help but be troubled at these seeming conflicts of rights. The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion, and Americans bristle at any real or imagined infringement of it. But more than 200 years as a free country have taught us that there are limits to these rights, and there can be little serious argument that the religious splinter group at Eldorado, led by convicted polygamist Warren Jeffs, abused the rights granted by the founders as well as the health, safety and innocence of defenseless children.

There will always be those of a conspiratorial bent who see the worst in any use of governmental power, and there will always be errors on the part of the government that will encourage them in their misguided accusations. The use of a military armored vehicle in last week’s raid on the Eldorado compound reminded many of these people of the deadly confrontation at Waco, and doubt has been cast upon the validity of the initial telephone tip that led to the to the Eldorado raid.

That matters little. Rumors about the activities at the compound had been swirling for months around West Texas; authorities had reasonable cause to believe that children inside it were being subjected to abuse. They acted properly, if not with the utmost of finesse.

It is hard to know what to think when watching television interviews with some of the mothers from the compound. Like Lucille Nelson, who is quoted above, they are gentle and soft-spoken, and their faith and sincerity are undeniable.