Obscene Picture at the Border

This week, I was confronted by a picture that I found to be obscene. It were taken  the US-Mexico Border.

This photo was not sexual, nor was it provocative in any manner. In fact, when we say, "obscene" the fact that our minds gravitate towards sexual images speaks volumes of the culture of this world. These pictures were inhumane, and they were violent.

The picture at the US-Mexico Border was taken by a journalist for humanitarian reasons. This journalist was exposing the obscene in order to elicit a response. In this photo were teenagers and children from Mexico and Central America who had been detained by United States Border Patrol Agents. They were being held in Dog Kennels - locked behind wire fences with only blankets. Maybe they had some food and water, but it was not in the image. I would hope that my own Government were not THAT sadistic. The youth were sleeping on the concrete, others were playing with make-shift toys of rocks or sticks or dirt. Some had toys that they had brought with them.

Proponents of this handling of these children will point out the fact that they are "illegal immigrants" to the US. They entered the United States without a valid passport or Visa, and they did not enter through a legitimate check point. I will not contest those issues. Such is the truth. However, WHY did these young people enter our country?

First and foremost, these people are entering the United States in order to gain a better life - to have money, food, and stability. "It's not our fault that their nations are in the shape they are," some contest.  That statement is extremely flawed. When the United States, Canada, and Mexico entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), something that was promised to provide jobs, and better opportunities for all three nations, what in fact happened was highly different. United States jobs moved to Mexico. At first thought, one would think that jobs moving to Mexico would create a better life for Mexicans, however the reality is false.

Of course what I am making is an overarching generalization. Some US companies most likely did make better lives for Mexican Citizens. The overwhelming majority, however, did not. The are concerned with bottom line profits. This is the exact reason they pulled out of the US to move to Mexico. Mexico has no "minimum wage" law. A worker in a US owned company in Mexico can work for whatever the Company Executive feels like paying - most often cents on the hour. This obviously leads to abject poverty. The cost of living does not follow the wages.

So, as Large Corporation Executives make Billions of Dollars, their Mexican workers can barely feed themselves let alone their families. What happens when people can't eat? They have to get the food somehow. Drug Cartels took over many areas of Mexico. We are not talking about corner drug dealers - These are multi-million dollar organizations. These are murderous organizations.

Because of NAFTA, Mexican farmers could not sell their produce at reasonable prices to make enough profit. Farms were destroyed.

Because of NAFTA, the fence between the US and Mexico was built to the standard it is now. Because of NAFTA, people just trying to survive come across the border to make any kind of living they can.

What is happening at the border has been called a "humanitarian crisis." Even Sarah Palin agrees! Something MUST be done. It is OBSCENE to lock children in rooms and dog kennels. It is obscene to create a situation where people leave home because they have no opportunity to be self sufficient where they live. All of this is immoral!

Our God does not know what international boundaries are. All people are God's people. There is no "us" and "them." "We" do not need to work to keep "them" out. Instead, we all need to work together to create a situation where people do not have the need to flee their homes to survive. The United States can work with the Mexican Government to create solutions to this crisis rather than blaming the victims - the people.

The cause is much larger than the individuals crossing the border. The cause is Legion - Babylon - Evil! The solution is not out of our reach. The solution, however, must be desired by the Children of the Living God. The solution is for all of God's Children to stand in solidarity and not allow such obscenity in the world that God gave us!