First, let’s start with the link. You may or may not have seen it in the news. I hadn’t until my wife pointed it out to me.
Where have we seen this before? Have we learned nothing from history? Isn’t this pretty much the same thing that happened with the missionaries of the Age of Discovery? What about the Stolen Generation?
There’s an inherent sense of superiority I see in here that irks me. I don’t know why. Could it be a case of simple lack of forethought? Even if the parents of these children had died in the quake (which is disputed quite strongly, if you read the article), surely they had extended family. They’d certainly be better off with grandparents, uncles, even cousins than with a random family full of people they don’t know.
So is this sinister, or very very badly misguided? I don’t know. Make up your own mind. Just think very carefully and do your homework before giving money to relief funds. Doing research on the funds is harder than just giving and hoping for the best, but honestly, if they deserve your money, don’t you think they deserve as much attention as well?
April 27th, 2010 at 07:35
I really don’t think these people were working off the basis that they believe they were superior to others. They certainly were not doing it because they thought their christianity was better than their, because that nation is a very christian nation. Im going to go with extremely reckless and badly guided, but I think they were just acting in the best way they knew with that given predicament.
April 27th, 2010 at 09:07
Really? I think there’s a case for malice here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Life_Children%E2%80%99s_Refuge_case. Note that investigations point to more than 20 of the children being taken from their parents with promises of a “better life” in America.
It certainly doesn’t help their case that their “legal advisor” (Jorge Puello — who is not in fact a lawyer in Haiti) has been himself charged in more than one country on sex trafficking of women and children.
If they’re not malicious, one would have a hard time proving that they were not criminally negligent.