Yes ratboy, the foster care system is proven to do more harm than good. This is proven by statistics.
If the people of the ranch have been proven to be born and raised in an envirement where all they are taught is that they are to obey the commands of their prophet becasue the prophet is speaking for god, than I would say this is what most of the people will do. (they know nothing else as Dr Phil said) If that prophet has been proven to command unlawful acts (like aranging marriage of 14 year old girl to 19 year old cousin) (or when the prophet himself sodomizes his 6 year old nephew) I would say those people of the ranch are in danger of being a victim of the prophet, just as foster children are in danger of becoming victims of the foster care system.
Knowing statistics of foster care, they should be shut down and a better system made. With the children of the ranch, they should be taken out of there along with their mothers, BUT not be placed in another harmful situation (foster care), but be made aware of their right to resist the commands of a prophet who is asking them to do something unlawful. What is important to understand is that even if those people were told that their prophet has asked of them unlawful acts, it will be hard to convince them it is true. They (the ranch community) are taught outsiders are evil. Most likely they will not believe their prophet has broken a law, because the law broken is the law of (the outsiders). They have been told a lie that all outsiders are evil. That includes you ratboy. You are evil in their minds.
So it may seem to be religious persecution to ask Warren Jeffs to address his believers and tell them it is wrong to force someone to marry at 14, and it is wrong to sodomize a minor boy , but it isn't religious persecution. It is simply asking a man to speak the truth about the laws of our country. If the flock hears their own prophet condemning certain unlawful acts, then they will believe it to be true. Then they will question the prophet himself as to why he did those acts that he now condemns. And maybe they will see him as a false prophet, and be free to worship a god that they choose. They can go back to the ranch with the knowledge that the prophet they followed has harmed some of the people he leads.
I do agree it hard to penetrate those with unhealthy belief system. Would Warren Jeffs be considered of unhealthy belief system if he has anal sex with a 6 year old boy?