Haiti judge says 8 of 10 missionaries to be freed

[JEDIYoda]

I can honestly say see I told ya so.............
Eight of these people were not dealing in human traficking or for that matter kidnapping!!
All these parents wanted was what any parent would want for their children--a better life.

It`s fine and dandy that some of you would wax all eloquent and say that instead of giving them a better life we should rebuild the schools and hospitals and create jobs....
You people who think that is the case are iether living in a dream world or your just being goofy.
We have our own homeless to care for and our own schools that need rebuilding...etc...

Those of you who think that we should rebuild their schools and hospitals...etc, etc....i bett none of you contributed any of your time or money to effect these changes....

Nuff said...lol

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_americans_detained

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A Haitian judge said Wednesday he is freeing eight of 10 U.S. Baptists charged with child kidnapping after parents testified they voluntarily handed their children over to the missionaries.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil told The Associated Press that the eight were free to leave Wednesday without bail or other conditions.

"The parents of the kids made statements proving that they can be released," he told AP, explaining that the parents had given up their children voluntarily.

The missionaries, most from two Baptist churches in Idaho, are accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without proper documents. It came just as aid officials were urging a halt to short-cut adoptions in the wake of the earthquake.

They say they were on a humanitarian mission to rescue child quake victims by taking them to a hastily prepared orphanage in the Dominican Republic and have denied accusations of trafficking.

Group leader Laura Silsby originally said they were taking only orphaned and abandoned children, but reporters found that several of the children were handed over to the group by their parents, who said the hoped the Baptists would give them a better life.

 

[sportage]

Ok... Say these so called missionaries would have removed the Haitian kids to the US. Just who(m) would it have been making the decisions after that? Who would have called the shots? Who is it that would decide where this "better life" was to be found? A ministers home? One of the church members homes? The highest bidder?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in a free country, things just don’t work like that.
What... just because they are "church members", they have some type of moral superiority to make decisions above the law? Determine what is best for these kidnapped children?

No... sorry.... in most cases these children would end up in a life worse than slavery.
These self appointed moral authority missionaries are just dam lucky they got away butts intact. Well, at least eight of them.
PS. Still waiting for them to try this in BS "this" country, but
they will not. They know it would mean spending a life term in prison.

And Im starting to wonder... exactly what connection do you have to this???

 

[Robor]

Ok... Say these so called missionaries would have removed the Haitian kids to the US. Just who(m) would it have been making the decisions after that? Who would have called the shots? Who is it that would decide where this "better life" was to be found? A ministers home? One of the church members homes? The highest bidder?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in a free country, things just don’t work like that.
What... just because they are "church members", they have some type of moral superiority to make decisions above the law? Determine what is best for these kidnapped children?

No... sorry.... in most cases these children would end up in a life worse than slavery.
These self appointed moral authority missionaries are just dam lucky they got away butts intact. Well, at least eight of them.
PS. Still waiting for them to try this in BS "this" country, but
they will not. They know it would mean spending a life term in prison.

And Im starting to wonder... exactly what connection do you have to this???

I'm not saying what these people were trying to do was right but where did you get that (bolded) insane statement? I happen to know a woman who was one of a group from the Philippines that was sponsored by a church group to come to the US. I have no idea what process was used but she was adopted by a nice American woman and has a great life here. I think this group had similar motives. Again, I'm NOT saying they should not be punished for attempting to subvert adoption, immigration, etc laws. I'm just saying I don't think they had evil intentions as some are alleging.

 

[michaelmast]

Ok, well i cannot judge them because they tryied to make a good thing for those kids, but unfortunaly if you want to do something firstable you have to explain your intentions and them wait for an answer, because if you just did it you will in the middle of storm.

 

[ZaneNBK]

Sounds like some people with good intentions doing the wrong thing out of ignorance. Looks like at least a couple of them will have to pay for that ignorance with more than just a few days in jail while awaiting trial.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I remember hearing on NPR that "investigators" suspected most of the group were just volunteers who were following a couple peoples' lead, thinking they were doing valid missionary work. So this wasn't entirely unexpected anyway.

Still, even if they had explicit consent from the parents, adoption doesn't work like a handshake deal. Thankfully, the system simply doesn't trust people enough to not go through a documentation/vetting procedure.

 

[Patranus]

but but but the evil christians mush be prosecuted!

 

[werepossum]

I hate that they were caught, but perhaps with the publicity these kids will actually get something from the Haitian government. I know several people who do missionary work in Haiti, including projects like gardens and fish ponds because the rations from the government are literally at the brink of starvation, no protein. If I were a poor Haitian parent who had gotten to know the missionaries I would certainly send my child to this mystically rich land of America. Hell, even the Dominican Republic is a huge step up. And if they looked well-off and were Christian, and I had just lost everything and had no way of providing for my child, I would send them even if I didn't know the missionaries. The vast majority of Haitians were desperately poor even before the earthquake, and like almost all parents they want a better life for their children.

I'm not that big on Haitian immigrants but I'd be happy with all their orphans coming to America and growing up as Americans. Their lives would be so much better.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Ok... Say these so called missionaries would have removed the Haitian kids to the US. Just who(m) would it have been making the decisions after that? Who would have called the shots? Who is it that would decide where this "better life" was to be found? A ministers home? One of the church members homes? The highest bidder?
wow you really have stoopid issues and an ignorant outlook on helping these children!!
Besides that you are just plain going off the deep end!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in a free country, things just don’t work like that.
What... just because they are "church members", they have some type of moral superiority to make decisions above the law? Determine what is best for these kidnapped children?
First of all haite is not a free country and second of all, you know damn well you are just being a jerk because these people were iether Christian or baptist!
You also know that nobody set out with a mission of moral superiority...these people set out with the intent to help these children.......of course your the one who said we can help these children better by rebuilding the schools and the hospitals...now thats very funny....because thats just your way of saying HELL NO we don`t need no haitian children in our country!!

No... sorry.... in most cases these children would end up in a life worse than slavery.--pure BS and you know it!! you are being ignorant and stoopid....you know nothing about children who have been adopted by american or foreign parents who can provide and care for these children!
These self appointed moral authority missionaries are just dam lucky they got away butts intact. Well, at least eight of them. Again how do you know they were self appointed....your so far off the deep end common sense does not even register in your mind!!

PS. Still waiting for them to try this in BS "this" country, but
they will not. They know it would mean spending a life term in prison. You know damn well what you just said is BS and would never happen in this country!!

And Im starting to wonder... exactly what connection do you have to this???

We all know that you are a goofy and over the deep end and are not even thinking rationally......

Do they actually give you that much time out of your padded cell to get online...

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I'm not saying what these people were trying to do was right but where did you get that (bolded) insane statement? I happen to know a woman who was one of a group from the Philippines that was sponsored by a church group to come to the US. I have no idea what process was used but she was adopted by a nice American woman and has a great life here. I think this group had similar motives. Again, I'm NOT saying they should not be punished for attempting to subvert adoption, immigration, etc laws. I'm just saying I don't think they had evil intentions as some are alleging.

It seems to be that people didn't understand how the paperwork is supposed to be handled. They didn't "steal" anyone.

You know those evil missionaries are really trying to deprive them of things like this.


From National Geographic, a Fundamentalist Christian propaganda site:

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some must take desperate measures to fill their bellies.



Charlene, 16 with a month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.
The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places such as Cité Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.
"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces (2.7 kilograms, 85 grams) he weighed at birth.
Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky too," she said.
Food Prices Up
Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.
The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places.
The global price hikes, together with floods and crop damage from the 2007 hurricane season, prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Agency to declare states of emergency in Haiti and several other Caribbean countries.

I mean, these kids will have to eat real food now. It's criminal I tell you!

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Oh, that was from 2008. More recently there is a shortage of dirt that they use for this purpose. No that's not a joke.

 

[JS80]

Ok... Say these so called missionaries would have removed the Haitian kids to the US. Just who(m) would it have been making the decisions after that? Who would have called the shots? Who is it that would decide where this "better life" was to be found? A ministers home? One of the church members homes? The highest bidder?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in a free country, things just don’t work like that.
What... just because they are "church members", they have some type of moral superiority to make decisions above the law? Determine what is best for these kidnapped children?

No... sorry.... in most cases these children would end up in a life worse than slavery.
These self appointed moral authority missionaries are just dam lucky they got away butts intact. Well, at least eight of them.
PS. Still waiting for them to try this in BS "this" country, but
they will not. They know it would mean spending a life term in prison.

And Im starting to wonder... exactly what connection do you have to this???

You are insane.