Over the past two weeks, there has been much discussion about the ten Baptist missionaries in Haiti who were caught trying to smuggle thirty-three Haitian "orphans" (it is now known that most of them do have living parents) into the Dominican Republic. Some have hailed them as would-be saviors with the noblest of intentions. Others have condemned them as child traffickers whose egos have led them to believe that they can go above the law to take children out of their own culture and have them adopted someplace "better."
Both sides, to some degree, could be right but, as of tomorrow, it may be a moot point. According to a Reuters story released this evening, they are going to be freed without charges.
Now, let me start by making one thing clear: I think that these people were wrong in what they did. Further, I think that they should face charges.
But I have some serious misgivings about this situation.
