#@&^ you! Obey the law!

I'm tired. Maybe it's because I care too much. I'm heartbroken by the children being separated from their parents when they come to the United States seeking a better/safer life. And I'm heartbroken by the callous friends I have, especially ones who claim to be "Christians". Some people will say that this policy of separating kids from parents has taken place for years - prior to Trump. Maybe it has, but just because we're/I'm unaware of something doesn't make it any less troublesome. 

Longstanding policy ≠ ok.

Why blog about it? Because I find it therapeutic. When I can process in black and white I feel I understand better. Ultimately I hope a reader begins to think clearer as well.

I slept like crap last night after reading something a friend posted on Facebook - a status about immigration, saying that the parents are "irresponsible". That if the immigrants would "obey the law" they wouldn't find themselves in the predicament where their children are taken by our government. 

This is just asinine.

If anything the parents fleeing 3rd world countries - where death, disease, hunger, and cartel violence are daily occurrences are the MOST responsible parents. Why would you ever want to subject your children to those things? I've only been a dad for 3 months but I'm beginning to realize I'd do most anything to protect or provide for my daughter. 

Here's the thing... "obey the law" is a nice catch phrase if it fits your narrative. If it fits inside your myopic worldview or political ideology. 

There are times where laws are unjust, unreasonable, or even downright evil. Hell, even America was founded on this notion; our founders wanted to live in a place with freedom, free of (legal) religious and political oppression. We have a moral obligation to denounce and even disobey laws that are unjust.    

"An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so." 

- Gandhi

Women in many Arab countries are considered second class citizens. They are subject to inhumane treatment to include beatings and public floggings because they were "immodest"; and there's the barbaric "female genital mutilation". We would be wrong to flippantly tell those women "obey the law". 

What of America's Jim Crow Laws? Clearly segregation is wrong. Yet for years upon years Americans treated "colored" people as second class citizens or worse, as animals. The civil rights marches and acts of civil disobedience flew in the face of those who said "obey the law". Many black Americans were beaten, lynched, and arrested for disobeying unjust laws. 

   
These are just a couple of examples why merely saying "obey the law" is not only careless but it silences the voice of those who are dealing with the dichotomy of living under injustice or opposing it.

Sure, parents are separated from their children if they're arrested for a [felony] crime. Here's the thing... The children aren't then moved 1,500 miles away and put in a cage in a detention facility. If American youth were treated this way the lawsuits would be endless. How in the world do you get these kids back to parents who are deported? 

We can do better! We must do better! If America truly wants to be great again we have to lead by example - we must treat others as we want to be treated - we must love our neighbors. Why not be known for loving well and doing the right thing even if it's the hard thing? 

"The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the gospel if it stopped being . . . a defender of the rights of the poor . . . a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society . . . that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history." 

- Bishop Oscar Romero