I was raised nominally Christian.
So much so so that when I heard this I had to stop my double fist pump followed by YEAH BABY! with sorry Lord.
It's habit but for some reason the Christ I came up with was good and kind and merciful and did not delight in the misery of others and would not look kindly on me using someone else's trials and tribulations as some sort of emotional gain.
and adopting children is emotional gain, feeling pleasure at altruism is an emotional gain.
This Silsby woman is the most horrid of examples of it , but before people get to excited there teh peopel who went with her while not openly a s malicious still are ridiculous privileged nit wits.
Religion is a form of activism.
A belief that shapes how you move through the world, adhered to at different strengths but still a core binding principle.
And their religion was one thing but the ACTION they took , the activism that allowed them to be duped and used by this woman is simple.
Whatever lives and ties and circumstances these young children and their families had, regardless of the families they went to, the lack of infrastructure available, that it would be better if they
were like "us".
Become us and you will always be us no matter what you were before .
with the caveat being that once you are one of us you better never say anything against us.
Us having a shifting meandering all encompassing "good" meaning that often stands in for necessities and resources rather than actual assimilation.
The parents of the stolen children speak of education, food, and safety .
Any way they can provide it to their children.
That idea is automatically transmuted to become "homes with Christians" or " letting us run this" or " morphing these children into Christians"
So while Silsby fraudulently organized many people in complete accord willingly donated , and religion isn't the real issue here.
The sight of in need people still connects directly not to our need to improve their circumstances but the believe that they are in those circumstances because something is inherently wrong with their being.
In this case " lacking the love of Christ" but how many times have charities, aid and reach outs been organized not around making peoples lives better but more like ours
because we refuse to separate having resources from DESERVING them.
Why not simply provide resources , why not listen to requests,
why not CALL OUT THOSE WHO DON'T . Why?
Why
Why
The process of asking yourself what would you do if ... doesn't come up because something
in this case "heathenism" and browness
but some times class and race and gender and sex makes it unnecessary.
Whatever points or history that brings folks to this point is invalid so we don't have to think
and while it seems most innocuous with people like Silsby it's dangerous.
Because while we remain unexamined , preying on our "good" nature is easy.
Silsby got away with this to this point because many people thought NOTHING about children and ONLY about how they felt.
She didn't get away with it because the one thing she never thought would happen has been prevalent since the beginning of this tragedy.
Hatians value their children culturally deeply and profoundly and operating in tehir own country as shook as it is took and are taking deep steps to prevent their harm with WHATEVER THEY HAVE AVAILABLE.
And of course I am looking at this as a parable for activism, for education for feminism, black rights shit even black arts.
There is a desperate need to seperate ourselves from teh idea that we know better and are better because of our beliefs . Well intentioned liberalism, race consciousness , class ascension have often leaded to same results .
A belief that the needs of those below thus can only be met our way and that we need not examine our or own pursuit of satisfaction blinds us to
1) the needs and requests and care of teh peopel we claim to help
2) the serious danger and manipulation and damage that can come from the evil and self serving ( and yes kidnapping kids EVIL ) that we will condone and ORIGINATES from with in us because we don't ask questions and don't look at putting those we wish to help truly forward.
But besides all that Forgive Me Lord as I asked that you throw all types of books at this woman because she is not the story but
at least let me real in saying that I knwo unlike so many that a lot of this was about me.
