Thursday my buddy, Nancy, participated in a “Families Belong Together” rally in Eugene protesting the separation of children from their parents at the border and demanding that the Trump administration keep families together.
The thought that a rally like that would ever take place in our country is beyond belief. Why is our President and his administration inhumanely separating families who seek asylum in the US?
Just as shocking were Jeff Session’s remarks in defense of these intolerable actions:
“Having children does not give you immunity from arrest and prosecution,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a speech on Thursday in Fort Wayne, Ind.
“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government,” said Mr. Sessions, quoting Bible verse as he took exception to evangelical leaders who have called the practice abhorrent. “Because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”
Contrast Session’s remarks to this excerpt from Dr. David Kim’s of Holt International obituary speaking in regards the Korean war orphans:
He became the first legal guardian to the children who were brought to the orphanage, which authorized him to sign immigration and adoption documents on their behalf. As the majority of those who came into care were abandoned, or otherwise without any identifying information, they were given David’s surname as he was now their legal guardian…Many Korean adoptees only briefly carried the “Kim” name, replacing it with the American surname of their adoptive families once home in the U.S. To David Kim, this name change symbolized the revolution that he championed throughout his life: a revolution in the concept, color and composition of family.
Throughout his life, David reflected on a conversation he had with Harry Holt in Korea that had a particularly strong impact on him. As they stood praying over the freshly dug graves of children who did not survive, Harry posed a question that rang in David’s ears the remainder of his life. He titled his memoir based on Harry’s haunting question, “Who Will Answer?”
“After the prayer, Mr. Holt looked me straight in eye, and asked, ‘Brother Kim, who will answer for these children when we stand before God?’” David wrote in his memoir. “Silence prevailed as we searched for an answer. After a few minutes Elder Lee and I shoveled frozen dirt onto the little coffin. There were no words from any of us, even after we arrived back at the center. The question stayed in my thoughts for the next several days. What would be my answer when I stood before God? It made me think of the responsibility that I bore for every baby who died under our care.”
I ask,”Brother Trump, Brother Sessions, Sister Sarah, Brother Ryan and Brother McConnell, who will answer for these children when we stand before God?”