The Village of Hope: Clarifications and Questions

The Moroccan Dispatches continues to cover the recent expulsion of Christians from Morocco. Some issues are becoming clearer but some are not, raising questions that must be asked, especially since neither the foreign nor the domestic media have not done so.

Shias Also Targeted
The Moroccan government has reiterated that this crackdown is not targeted at Christians or Westerners: Shia Muslims have also been deported. All Christians criticizing the expulsion of Christians must keep this in mind. Morocco has made it clear that it desires to be a nation of Sunni Muslims, and it will take measures against any person or group who attempts to change that identity, whether they are Christian or not.

It has been suggested in the comments of this blog that Morocco conducted these raids and expulsions for reasons we might describe as Realpolitik. The thought is that the Moroccan government wants something, and their turning a blind eye to missionary activity can be a future bargaining chip. A possible political cause for these expulsions could be U.S. support for Western Sahara in its independence struggle against Morocco.

However, I doubt the Obama administration cares that much about evangelicals that most likely voted for McCain, but it is at least worth mentioning as a possibility. Furthermore, viewed in the larger context of all foreign religious missionaries being expelled, (Muslim and Christian; American, Iranian, Dutch, South African, and Kiwi...) it is doubtful that this crackdown is in any way directly connected to America's diplomacy in the region.

Journalistic Use of Sources
I suppose this goes without saying, but different journalists use different sources. And if you read through enough of them, three clear groups of sources begin to emerge: the Moroccan authorities, the Christian missionaries and foster families, and the diplomatic representatives of their governments.

In the Moroccan press, at first, only the statements of the Moroccan authorities were reported. The French-language Moroccan weekly Tel Quel's coverage consists of a summary of the official news release by the Moroccan government. However, in today's Al-massae, Morocco's most widely-read newspaper, the front page article gave space to America's ambassador and his frustration at the way in which the raids and expulsions were carried out.

Foreign press agencies, including Reuters and Agence France Presse and the BBC are also representative of this pattern, citing only Moroccan and foreign authorities. While they do not seek the opinions of the expelled Christians themselves, they occasionally cite official Christian representatives in Morocco and even the international organization that sponsor the missionaries.

A notable exception is the Associate Press, whose journalists, unlike those of every other major press agency, managed to find The Village of Hope's website.

On the other end of the spectrum, many foreign blogs and Christian news sites quote only the expelled Christians, ignoring the official authorities of all countries.

The Definition of Adoption
When we do take into account the statements made by all the major players in this situation, some discrepancies begin to emerge. In regard to The Village of Hope, one of the most notable discrepancies is over the definition of the word "adoption".

If my understanding is correct, non-Muslims are not allowed to adopt Moroccan children. For this reason, the families at The Village of Hope never legally adopted the 33 children in their care. I assume that if they had tried, they would have been rejected by the authorities because of their open Christian identity.

However, in the Al-massae article today as well as in other Moroccan news outlets, Moroccan official have accused The Village of Hope families of illegally adopting the Moroccan children. Perhaps this an issue of translation, but to my mind, 'adoption' means the legal and official process by which an adult or adults take responsibility for a child. If that is the case, I don't see how they could have been in violation of the law on adoption, since they weren't allowed to adopt in the first place, but only serve as foster parents.

Now, if 'adoption' means the assumption of parental responsibilities regardless of legal status, then clearly the families of The Village of Hope had adopted the children; that was the orphanage's mission. And since it existed legally for over a decade (and for longer in another form), the Moroccan authorities were obviously aware that these families were taking on parental responsibilities for these children.

Proselytism Material
One of the clearest conflicts between the stories given by the Village of Hope families and the Moroccan government regards materials for proselytism. However, in both the official news release and in further news reports in the local media, Moroccan authorities have claimed that there were dozens of leaflets ("prospectus") and CD's meant for proselytizing. The Village of Hope states that there is no basis for this charge.

The Moroccan authorities have not produced any evidence of the alleged offence

Now, some Christians have asserted that it is completely normal for Christians to have religious texts and CD's. I do not doubt that the families of The Village of Hope had Christian media. The question is what was contained on that media. Lacking an actual presentation of the CD's and tracts/leaflets it is difficult to know whether the Moroccan authorities correctly discerned their purpose.

Once again, a fair hearing in the media and in a court of law could have addressed these issues and allowed the interested public to make up its own mind on the subject.