Hello, all. It certainly has been a bit since I was last compelled to sit down and write, and what a doozy we have here. At this time, I am certain that even the people living under rocks have heard of the drama surrounding “The Sound of Freedom”, and the back and forth it has caused. In one corner, there is the organization Operation Underground Railroad (https://ourrescue.org/), fighting to bring an end to the trafficking of children. In the other corner, we find the people committing these heinous acts. I think it goes without saying that there can be no in-between here. There are only two corners, the choice should be obvious. Yet, I get the feeling that many would disagree with my assessment here.
How surprising it is that the instant this movie hit the theaters, it not only demolished the latest installment of a movie franchise almost as old as I am, but that it did so despite the consistent and widespread mechanical failure of nearly every single movie theater this movie is showing in. Imagine that, all across the country, the air-conditioners keeping the movie theaters cool managed to fail in such a way that only the theaters showing Sound of Freedom were uncomfortably hot. In some, the failure went a different way, with projectors going down, the movie failing to download, etc. Things that make you go “Hmmm”.
As if that is not enough, various news outlets have excoriated the film, calling it “Q-Anon” adjacent, whatever that means, implying that the contents of the movie are some type of conspiracy theory. There has been no end of the vitriolic comments flying back and forth, as people try to figure out which talking heads to follow or ignore. In all, there seems to be an effort within the mainstream media to downplay this movie as much as possible, and I am thankful for the Streisand Effect it has caused. Now, people are becoming more aware of what has been happening to people all over the country, and the world. Keep it up CNN, you are doing God’s work.
By now, it should be clear where I stand on the issue. I am unabashedly opposed to all forms of slavery, and am more than willing to do what I can to bring awareness of its continued existence in our midst. Like it or not, the law notwithstanding, there are people being kidnapped and forced into slavery all over the world, and the US is no exception. There are people going missing, and those taking them do not discriminate. They have even taken babies, toddlers, on up to 20 somethings. The things being done to them are beyond the pale, beneath contempt, and without excuse. It falls to us to stop it, and there are people choosing to close their ears because their favorite flavor of social engineering tells them they should stick their heads in the sand and ignore what is right in front of them.
Not to be outdone, the State of California recently had a bit of drama when the legislature failed to advance a measure that would have imposed even more severe penalties on people who traffic in children. Let me say that again. They killed a measure that would have imposed harsher penalties on people who engage in the act of kidnapping and enslaving children. Full stop. What runs through your mind when the full impact of those words hits?
To their credit, the outcry against their decision forced them to go back, revisit the bill, and then revive it. However, where I have difficulty is in the idea that they needed to revisit it at all. This was an effort to expand the California Penal Code to include Human Trafficking as a “Serious Felony” (SB-14 Serious felonies). The proposed amendment to this law simply adds, “human trafficking of a minor, in violation of subdivision (c) of Section 236.1” to the definition of a Serious Felony, and the same law would prosecute this offense via the three-strikes law, prohibiting plea deals. (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB14&showamends=false)
That is all it does. They tried to kill this change to the law. One must ask why, and to find the answer to that question, I will submit the following,
“Some Democrats believe that mass incarceration under California’s “three-strikes” law was a huge mistake that particularly harmed communities of color.”
This quote comes from an article published on the CalMatters site, discussing this topic. In the article it notes that the proposed change was pushed forward by Republicans, and killed by Democrats. After the resulting fight died down, the Republican side not only picked up additional supporters, but there were 18 Democrats counted among them. I will leave all speculation and conjecture to you, but I have already come to my own conclusions about the reasons for their decision to turn coat, and I have concluded that the lot are morally bankrupt. (https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/07/california-legislature-child-trafficking-bill/)
I am going to say something that should not be controversial, and the fact that it is makes my blood boil. Human trafficking should not be a political issue, it should be a humanitarian one. There should not ever be a single politician balking at the idea of making life worse for those who traffic in humans. At no point should any sane human being ever wonder if putting an end to modern day slavery is a good idea. Yet, a whole bevy of politicians did exactly that, and for what reason? Because they thought it would hurt so-called “people of color”.
As someone who would be considered a “person of color”, I resent that with every fiber of my being. If their first thought is that imposing harsher penalties for people who make a living harming children is that it would hurt non-white people, what exactly does that say about their opinion of said people? What does it say about their character that they are willing to allow children to suffer because they are afraid that their target voters would be upset with them for dealing with an issue that should not be politicized? Just exactly what kind of people are occupying the halls of power? I think you know the answer here.
There is more, of course. I am still serving in the National Guard. As a currently serving Soldier, I am required to sit through a set of briefings every year. Around 2007, I recall the addition of a new briefing, Human Trafficking. It is entirely possible that it had been added sooner, but the earliest I can recall sitting through said briefing was in 2007, when we were preparing to deploy to Iraq. It has been required ever since.
This is a very real problem, and one that I am convinced has not been given the attention it deserves. While Hollywood has given it some attention, with movies like “Taken”, and shows like “Criminal Minds”, it seems to me that most people feel as if this is somehow a remote issue, happening to some nebulous people somewhere else. That could not be farther from the truth! It is happening HERE! I must keep my children close because there are evil people out there who would take them and do horrendous harm to their bodies, and my fellow citizens wish to push the issue down the line? No. I recommend that you watch the movie, check out their website, learn all you can about the issue, and help bring it to an end.
I am reminded that Jesus made some very clear statements regarding children, and how important they are in His Kingdom. Matthew 18:1-6,
“At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.“
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