Saturday, February 06, 2010

Well-Intentioned Idiocy

The report of American "missionaries" attempting to take Haitian "orphans" back to the US - including sneaking them across the Dominican border - is just another example of people believing that "doing the right thing" trumps laws, both national and international, as well as common sense.

While I believe these folks had their heart in the right place, it might have been nice if they had decided to go through the proper hoops and loops of Haitian and American law before deciding, on their own, to just "rescue" these children. A point against them, I think, is the pretty-clear understanding they had that they were doing something illegal.

As the story moves on, my guess is it will become a focal point of conflict between hard-core fundamentalists and other right-wing Christians who will defend them, and the anti-religious folks who will see this as yet another mark against Christians. In the process, the facts of the story will become lost, and the real people involved, American and Haitian, will disappear entirely.

It is for this last reason I hope this is my only comment on this particular bit of news. They were, most assuredly, doing what they thought was "right". They were doing it badly, with the full knowledge that it was also quite illegal. Doing good is not a defense, so my guess is the Haitian courts will not be open to hearing it as a defense.

The worst part, for me, is no one will come out of this a winner. Not the Americans, who may end up in serious legal trouble in Haiti; not the Haitian children, who were stolen from their homes and families without their consent, and still face the prospect of having to live through the long recovery in an impoverished country; and not the churches and their allies who are seeking to help the Haitian people and will now be regarded with suspicion by all parties because of the thoughtless dumbness of a few claiming to act in the name of God.

Virtual Tin Cup

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