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US Missionaries May Face Kidnapping Charges in Haiti
yup.
They claim that they didnt think what they were doing was illegal which strikes me as very strange.
Wouldnt it be common sense to doubt the legality of transporting large numbers of children from one country to the next without any documentation?
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
its really weird.
I think they thought they really were doing a "good" thing for the children but that is based on their evangelical world view.
I dont think they were malicious but I do think that they knowingly were illegally trafficking those children.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited February 2010
I try not to believe everything I read in the papers, but it seems one of them thought it was God's mission to 'suffer the little children to come unto me'....and they'd been chosen to save them, But if they weren't deliberately flouting the law they were indeed either incredibly naive, or really arrogant to believe that because they came from America, they had carte blanche to behave in this way.
They really are now going to have to face the consequences of their brainless actions.
It little matters what their motives were, or who they are.
This was just completely dumb!
I try not to believe everything I read in the papers, but it seems one of them thought it was God's mission to 'suffer the little children to come unto me'....and they'd been chosen to save them, But if they weren't deliberately flouting the law they were indeed either incredibly naive, or really arrogant to believe that because they came from America, they had carte blanche to behave in this way.
They really are now going to have to face the consequences of their brainless actions.
It little matters what their motives were, or who they are.
This was just completely dumb!
They were just trying to convert those wicked Hatians to God fearing people.. poor fellas. How would they feel if Hatians came into America and did the same thing?! They would call for their heads!! Me thinks they were trying to pull a fast one and got caught.
Shenpen said, "I dont think they were malicious but I do think that they knowingly were illegally trafficking those children."
As a former evangelical, I'm going to say bingo. There is often a 'righteous' attitude that is willing to bump the law, even good ones, if it gets in the way of God's will. Which is ironically, Biblically speaking, since God sets up all governments which in itself is a crock. But I digress.
Not only were they taking the children out of Haiti illegally, but they were bring them into the Republica Dominica illegally, and they planned to keep them there indefinitely, all illegally. And they believed that they would be able to continue this illegal activity without interference from one or the other government.
Either they were operating in foreign countries without bothering to familiarize themselves with whatever local laws pertained to their operations, and made no attempt to consult with local authorities before moving people across borders, or they thought they could carry out ongoing illegal activities and not be prosecuted. In either case they persuaded themselves that something that would be a major violation of the law in the US would not be a major violation elsewhere.
I have relatives who have been missionaries. I'm not an expert on missionary work, but I think the vast majority of people who have done missionary work would be astonished by this level of incompetence. I don't believe that you can make inferences about missionaries in general from the behavior of a small deluded group.
They were just trying to convert those wicked Hatians to God fearing people.. poor fellas. How would they feel if Hatians came into America and did the same thing?! They would call for their heads!! Me thinks they were trying to pull a fast one and got caught.
Yup. I agree.
The whole thing stinks of racism, unbelievable ignorance, and arrogance. Great shame on them.
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Barrasoto zenniewandering in a cloud in beautiful, bucolic Victoria BC, on the wacky left coast of CanadaVeteran
edited February 2010
I wonder if they were even able to communicate with the children. Haitians speak French. Once they were asked by others - the kids freely admitted that they have relatives - they didn't need to be 'saved' by anybody!! A more recent news story tells that they had employed an immigration lawyer - one who has previously been charged with human trafficking - bringing women to the US to work as prostitutes!
Their lack of basic understanding of legal issues is astounding!
Comments
They claim that they didnt think what they were doing was illegal which strikes me as very strange.
Wouldnt it be common sense to doubt the legality of transporting large numbers of children from one country to the next without any documentation?
What the hell were they thinking??
I think they thought they really were doing a "good" thing for the children but that is based on their evangelical world view.
I dont think they were malicious but I do think that they knowingly were illegally trafficking those children.
They really are now going to have to face the consequences of their brainless actions.
It little matters what their motives were, or who they are.
This was just completely dumb!
As a former evangelical, I'm going to say bingo. There is often a 'righteous' attitude that is willing to bump the law, even good ones, if it gets in the way of God's will. Which is ironically, Biblically speaking, since God sets up all governments which in itself is a crock. But I digress.
Either they were operating in foreign countries without bothering to familiarize themselves with whatever local laws pertained to their operations, and made no attempt to consult with local authorities before moving people across borders, or they thought they could carry out ongoing illegal activities and not be prosecuted. In either case they persuaded themselves that something that would be a major violation of the law in the US would not be a major violation elsewhere.
I have relatives who have been missionaries. I'm not an expert on missionary work, but I think the vast majority of people who have done missionary work would be astonished by this level of incompetence. I don't believe that you can make inferences about missionaries in general from the behavior of a small deluded group.
The whole thing stinks of racism, unbelievable ignorance, and arrogance. Great shame on them.
Their lack of basic understanding of legal issues is astounding!