Heartbreaking and disturbing.
That was how it felt standing outside the Southwest Key shelter, where more than 1,000 immigrant children were held.
My soul was stirred, and my heart broke at the thought of little children separated from their parents.
There is nothing more disconcerting for a parent than not knowing where your child is located or whom they may encounter during their separation.
For a child, having your tears unwiped, cries unheard and hugs unreturned would bring trauma to the strongest of wills.
Standing outside that facility knowing my government brought about this trauma angered me to my core.
How could the United States of America implement such an evil policy that used children as political pawns?
Have we slipped so much that we think this is an acceptable policy?
Do we believe the separation of families is a necessary evil and let those who implemented this evil get away with it without any consequences?
As a leader of a Christian ethics organization, I have a responsibility to analyze and measure issues against the Bible and draw conclusions.
The “zero-tolerance” policy enacted over the last two weeks, then rescinded the following week, was an act of evil created and condoned by the highest offices in the U.S.
When elected officials believe that separating children from parents is justified not to protect children from suspected abuse but as a mechanism to instill fear, then we have lost our way as a people.
We have drifted down the dark road of totalitarianism, controlled by those who prefer the dark over the light.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus rebuked those that prefer dark to light, saying, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
People who seek the common good must not sit by idly and permit the actions of the last two weeks to pass without consequence.
Now more than ever before, we need people of faith to stand up and say, “Never again! Not on my watch.”
It was an honor to pray beside faithful men and women in Brownsville, Texas, this past week.
In a voice of solidarity, Baptists from across the country called for repentance for those that perpetrated such evil, lifted up the children that they might find peace and a parent’s embrace, and prayed for frightened parents still wondering when they might be reunited with their sons and daughters.
As I left South Texas on Monday, a little piece of my heart and soul stayed behind.
Fellow people of faith, fellow citizens, we are better than the last two weeks. We are freedom-loving people who possess deep compassion for others and genuinely want to empower the world for greatness.
As President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation, we must find the “better angels” of our nature. Only then can our country prosper as a more perfect union where freedom seekers dwell and aspire to dwell.
