A Blight on Humanity’s Soul
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Slavery is flagrantly anti-human and degrading, a blight on humanity's soul.
It deserves the old-fashioned word, “abomination.” And isn’t it frightening to
realize that we treated each other so inhumanly only 150 years ago?
Yes, it’s frightening, but slavery is much closer to us in time. Its modern
term is “human trafficking” and though we may be in denial about it, it’s in
our own back yard.
A 30-something couple from a Des Moines suburb last year has been accused
of kidnapping a 20-year-old woman, torturing her, threatening her and her
family with death and transporting her to Virginia where they sexually
assaulted her and forced her into prostitution. The two are being prosecuted on
federal charges of sex trafficking and transportation of a person for prostitution.
An attitude adjustment
The case was a shocker for many Iowans who consider the state to be
relatively peaceful and secure. A few weeks ago, however, I attended a meeting
in which Michael Ferjak from the state attorney general’s office made a
presentation on human trafficking. It was an “attitude adjustment.”
It turns out that “agriculture” is one of the principal industries for which
people are trafficked. Besides farm workers, nannies, immigrants, children
and the mentally disabled are frequently trafficked, and teen “throwaways” –
kids whose parents kick them out of the house – are also often victims. Ferjak
said there are 500 throwaways a year in Iowa, and many end up trafficked by
people who take advantage of their vulnerability.
The result of
abuse of these teens is unambiguous. “When abuse begins,” he said, “development
ends.”
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Traffickers
use Craig’s list and events like the state fair to do business. Not
surprisingly, the vast majority of trafficking victims are women and
children.
So what does this have to do with the goal of this blog – to help people
searching for God?
Just that faith is as much about doing, and not doing, as about belief; as
much about how we treat each other as about prayer; as much about healing
social ills as about going to church. In my opinion, you can’t genuinely search
for God without developing a social conscience.
In imitation of the God we seek, we must be on the side of goodness and
kindness, compassion and justice. Practices like human trafficking are violations
of basic justice and can’t solicit a mere “ho-hum” from people searching for
God.
“Human
trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, and involves the use of force,
fraud, or coercion to exploit human beings for some type of labor or commercial
sex purpose,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. “Victims are
often lured with false promises of well-paying jobs or are manipulated by
people they trust, but instead are forced or coerced into prostitution,
domestic servitude, farm or factory labor, or other types of forced labor.”
3,646 Cases a Year
The
National Human Trafficking Resource Center says 3,646 cases of trafficking were
reported in the U.S. in the first six months of this year, 32 in Iowa.
So what
can we do, practically, to combat human trafficking? First, said Ferjak, be
aware and make others aware of the problem. Second, if you see anything that
appears to be an incident of trafficking, call 911 and “tell them what you
see,” or call 866-347-2423 (toll free) or report it online at www.ice.gov/tips. Third, since God-seekers
are people of prayer, we can pray for the victims and for a change of heart by
the perpetrators.
Pope Francis
recently visited a refugee center in Rome that houses people rescued from prostitution
and spoke with 20 women rescued from sexual slavery. According to America
Magazine, “all suffered severe physical abuse during their ordeals and are
living under protection.”
The Pope, who
has been outspoken on the subject, calls trafficking and slavery “a crime
against humanity’ and “an open would on the body of contemporary society.”
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