On this 2018 Father’s Day, as a father I can’t help thinking about the current crisis of shattered families because of our enforcement of immigration policies. Watching children cry and hard-hearted officials defend their actions with Bible verses reminds me that there is deep history here.
We are facing the consequences of things that are in part “blowback” from U.S. diplomatic and military meddling in Central America over decades. The U.S. overthrew a democratic government in Guatemala in 1954 to establish a brutal military dictatorship in support of the United Fruit Company (Chiquita Bananas). We supported the Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua, then after the Revolution we supported the Contras in their war against the Sandanista government. We supported a brutal military in El Salvador.
All these actions undermined viable civil society and government institutions, led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, many of whom were capable leaders, and created the devastation in which the current culture of gang violence has grown. We in the U.S. bear a large degree of responsibility for the chaos from which people are fleeing. To make it sound like they are “breaking our laws” when the U.S. has a long history of breaking their laws and violating human rights is a short-sighted view of history, legalistically thin, morally and ethically self-serving, and hypocritical.
What is that state of the soul of a nation and its people who would tolerate such actions in which children are made to suffer so much? Penance would demand that we at the very least treat these desperate people in humane ways and with a humble spirit.
I am deeply touched by this article “Sad Fathers Day” . I fully that “we are facing the consequences of things that are in part “blowback” from U.S. diplomatic and military meddling in Central America over decade” . This is an article which should be read out Loud in the News Feeds, Senate, Capital, Congress, Churches, Schools and uttermost Parts of America. This Article deserves all the attention we have. Thank you very Much Rev. Dan
Powerful reflection Dan and a candid criticism on systemic violation of human rights. These analyses and reflections will finally shape world thinking and actions.