Dewey's comment on VFD and "Being taken"?

[Foxy]

Count Olaf was a member of V.F.D. on the bad side, and he got custody of the Baudelaires, so they were in the custody of the bad side of V.F.D., even though they had no interest in joining the bad side.

I think V.F.D. tried to stop taking children at such young ages, perhaps trying to protect them from the fires of the world for as long as possible.

[Dante]

We don't have a wonderful picture of how V.F.D. has been conducting itself since the childhood of the Snickets. I would propose that, just as they stopped tattooing their members, there's every chance they stopped kidnapping large numbers of children, too; and trusted adult volunteers to raise the children in their care according to V.F.D.'s principles. In this sense, Olaf's custody is as much a V.F.D. custody as that of the Baudelaire parents'.

[tonyvfd]

Even if they stop kidnapping children long time before the Baudelaire children were born the mere fact that they used to would make me weary of them as individuals and as a organisation overall. Kidnapping, and indoctrination are hallmarks of an evil not noble organisation .

[Dante]

Well, they asked permission first.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

As Dante said, they ask their parents for permission when their parents are alive. Events involving Miss K indicate that child abduction still occurs after the publication of at least one of the ASOUE books. But the children kidnapped by Miss K were orphans, and they certainly agreed to be taken by VFD. Did you realize that Carmelita Spats was also called into VFD by the Prufrock Prep librarian? She wrote this in her autobiography, but apparently she was unaware of the publication of infrequent questions about VFD.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Well, doing illegal things from time to time is one reason why secret organizations are secretive.
After the Schism, the "noble" side of VFD tends to "invite" children to its secret organization. Then they make a noise. The child needs to ask a specific question to the parents, the parent needs to give a specific answer, and the child must ask another specific question. Then, in the distorted mentality of the people in Lemony's universe, both children and parents give permission.
Tattoos are no longer done since the Great Schism.
Dangers are part of the service of volunteering ... Doing something noble sometimes involves taking a risk. If the child or parents do not feel they are prepared for it, just do not grant permission. Violet's parents, Klaus and Sunny never gave permission, and they didn't get into VFD.

[tonyvfd]

I've only read the original 13 books and who could be at this hour. Could someone tell me in wich book is mentioned that they ask the parents permission? But I would agree that they may have the parents consent but not the children.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

Lemony Snicket the unauthorized autobiography chapter 3 e 12

[tonyvfd]

Thanks