Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest

Read about the Ariel Castro kidnapping case in these links.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/ariel-castro-had-ropes-an_n_3237412.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/07/castro-berry-cleveland/2140619/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583428/ariel-castro-cleveland-kidnapping-suspect-helped-look-for-missing-girl/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320564/Ariel-Castro-pictured-Suspect-Amanda-Berry-Gina-DeJesus-Michelle-Knight-kidnap-arrested--BROTHERS.html

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/tv_station_reports_berry_dejes.html

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/16/letter-asks-prosecutor-to-charge-ariel-castro-over-five-forced-abortions/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/05/10/ariel-castro-cleveland-kidnapping-rape-charges.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583620/michelle-knight-told-cops-ariel-castro-threatened-to-kill-her-if-amanda-berrys-baby-died/
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0510/Could-Ariel-Castro-be-tried-for-murder-Case-would-be-unprecedented

The prosecutor in this horrible case is about to stir up a hornet’s nest.  Ariel Castro stands accused of kidnapping three women and holding them against their wills for ten years.  He repeatedly raped and sexually abused all three, impregnating two of them.  One of the women was impregnated five times.  Castro ended each of the five pregnancies by starving and beating the woman.  One child, now six years old, was born to another of the hostages.

Abortion and the question of when a fetus officially becomes human are sharply divisive issues in the United States at this time.  There are already arguments beginning over whether Castro’s termination of the pregnancies constituted feticide or homicide.  If the killings are declared to have been homicides, then Castro is eligible for the death penalty.  But, if the killings are declared to have been homicides, then the fetuses will have been declared to have been human.  Obviously, for supporters of abortion rights, this just will not be acceptable.

This places the abortion supporters into a tight spot.  Virtually everyone is agreed that Castro’s crimes against the three women (they were still legally children when he abducted them) are heinous and evil.  Abortion supporters may be forced into a corner where they have to downplay the seriousness of some of Castro’s crimes.  It is a corner of their own making.

This is, of course, a religious issue, but I believe that an atheist could come to the same conclusion that I have: the killings of the fetuses were murders.

The Haiti Missionaries

In the wake of the recent catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, aid workers, including missionaries, flooded into the country. One group of Baptists from Idaho makes you wonder, "What were they thinking?" The ten missionaries were arrested for trying to take 33 children from the country into the Dominican Republic. They had no adoption papers. They had no government permission. What they got was arrested. They ended up looking stupid. The charges against them could result in years in prison.

The missionaries were obviously well meaning, but they ignored common sense. You can't just take children away, even from a disaster zone. This was a clear violation of Haitian national sovereignty and the United States will be able to do little to prevent whatever punishment Haiti requires.

It now looks as if the judge reviewing the case may expel the ten from Haiti. They'll be lucky if that is all that happens.

The names of the ten are Laura Silsby, Carla Thompson, Nicole Lankford, Steve McMullen, Jim Allen, Silas Thompson, Drew Culborth, Paul Thompson, Charisa Coulter, and one unnamed person. They should seriously consider the embarassment they have brought to the Christian name.