"Jesus loves all the little children of the world..."

photo by Fibonacci / flickr

Most of the world was riveted toward Thailand where those twelve little boys were trapped in that cave two miles or more from the entrance. We looked at TV, we prayed over and over. We admired those very brave men from several countries who risked their lives to ferret their way through water and cold and darkness and utter danger—to rescue one by one those boys. They were trapped for 18 days and we all wondered if it would be possible to rescue them. Now all the boys are safe. We hope they are OK. Only one courageous man lost his life trying to bring those boys to safety and needs to be honored. It makes me feel good to know that in a world like ours that there are still those who are willing to risk it all for someone else.

Meanwhile back at the ranch the sad saga of those almost 3,000 children who have been ripped from their parent’s arms continues. The most powerful country in the world can’t seem to marshall its resources to connect these lost children with their parents. One wonders if we have the same care for all these children as we did toward those 22 kids in Thailand trapped in that cave. 

Those supposedly in charge of this country's monstrous undertaking spit out lie after lie. They know where all the children are—they say. They are better off now than they would be with their parents—they say. They can call their parents any time they wish—they say. We never intended to separate children from their parents—they say. Why they have good dental care, fine doctors, good food and games to play. As if it does not matter that these children need their parents. 

While we languish in Hilton Head and Daytona or the mountains still over 50 children under five years old—maybe many more have no idea where their parents are. Their parents have no idea where their children are. We are told that the officials have no idea where at least 38 of these boys and girls belong. 

Slowly and begrudgingly we are beginning to connect some of the younger children with their parents. This has only being done because of a court order. PBS reported about a mother at the border who was reunited with her 14-month-old child after 85 days said, “The child continued to cry when we got home and would hold on to my legs and would not let go,” She added, “When I took off his clothes, he was full of dirt and lice. It seemed like that they had not bathed him the 85 days he was taken away from us.” Even if this is an exception to the rule—no child should receive this kind of treatment. 

Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post has written, “I don’t recognize this country anymore. Traumatizing children as a matter of deliberate policy takes a toll not only on those arrested and detained but also on our own humanity. The only way to rationalize these events is to view these immigrants as less than human.”

We talk about fake news a lot these days. Some of those supporting this policy talk about how untrue all these facts are. They claim many of these children are child actors—two years old? This is the same blindness that talked about actors in Parkland who in reality hovered under desks hoping they would not be shot. These attitudes adhere with those pathetic people who claim 26 children were not killed in Sandy Hook. This is not fake news. It is fake theology and fake humanity when we can pick and choose who matters and who does not count. 

We must raise our voices until all these children are returned and we put this terrible policy to rest once and for all. We cannot hide behind laws or fears about homeland security and treat children as if they did not matter. Neither can we turn away from  those poor people who trudged hundreds or thousands of miles looking for a life where they could be safe and their children would find a better way. Churches, politicians and communities cannot remain silent in the face of such pain and injustice.

Elie Wiesel lost every member of his family in the Holocaust. He reminded us that when we call anyone illegal this is the first step to the gas chambers. Maybe in our case this is stretching the point. But when we say the word, illegal it may just be the first step in not only putting children in cages and horrifying their parents. It may also be the beginning of forgetting what this country stands for and losing our souls as well.

Christy Edwards said, “To strip a child from her mother, already in a foreign land, land place that child in a metal cage, with chatter around her in a language she cannot understand, is to shatter a bond of security, love and belonging and replace it with fear, vulnerability and trauma.” Small Wonder columnist Kathleen Parker has said, “I don’t recognize this country anymore.”

photo by Fibonacci Blue / flickr

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com