This clip from DailyMotion was brought to my attention. It reports on the closure of The Village of Hope orphanage as reported by the Moroccan state-owned news channel 2M.
In terms of verbal content, it adds nothing new. The reporter essentially reads the government's official statement and then the statements of the official non-Muslim religious leaders in the country. But it adds a lot to what we know about the materials that the government has termed "for proselytism".
Below, I have composed a list of all the material I could see during the newscast, but allow me to highlight specific books and CD's.
If we assume that the children spoke mainly Arabic and French, then there are really only three books that could be considered targeted at the young children. The first is "Mes chants préferés", which appears to be a hymnbook for children. However, it could just as likely have been strictly for the use by the French staff. An Arabic book entitled "Banurama: Hyat assaid almasiH" appears to be a children's book about Jesus' life with illustrations. There could be no other audience for it besides Moroccan children.
The only other book that might be considered illegal is the Bible translated into Arabic and English. However, that needn't be for proselytizing either. In fact, it is entirely plausible that a dual language English-Arabic Bible was used by Christians to better learn the language of their new country. Every time I have moved to a new country, this being the only exception, I have bought a Bible in the new language to help me work towards fluency.
The rest of the dozen or so books, CD's, and tapes are rather laughable as evidence against The Village of Hope families. The vast majority of the books are in English and targeted towards adults. They are typical of what one would find in a Christian bookstore in the United States, material designed to help Christians better live the Christian life. A book that talks of the failures of Christianity "The Schizophrenic Church" can hardly be considered material for proselytism. The fact that they are in English further casts doubt on their use for proselytism; otherwise, they would certainly be in Arabic or French.
There are some other hymnbooks, but since this was explicitly a Christian organization, we can assume they were used for Christian worship for the Christians. There are also non-religious children's stories in English, notably "The Children's Treasury of Virtues" by William J. Bennett. We must remember that some of the families had their own children with them; the family I met at McDonald's did. So material for children does not mean that it was used to proselytize children. Material in English even less so.
Christian CD's in English such as "Classic Gospel Festival: Joyful" and FFH's "Have I Ever Told You" we can safely assume were also for the family's use. A tape set entitled "How to start a Bible Study in Your Neighborhood" by Jan Howard might seem at first that it was useful for proselytism. However, I highly doubt that the families of The Village of Hope were trying to set up a neighborhood Bible study in their Muslim city. It seems much more likely that the ideas contained on the tapes were used with the families themselves.
One also has to wonder why the 2M reporters found the Spanish books "Historias Biblicas" and "Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective" so interesting that they devoted camera time to them. In this part of Morocco no one really speaks Spanish and none of the families was Spanish as far as I know. One wonders how they got to The Village of Hope in the first place.
A particularly ridiculous part of the report was when they ominously opened up a book of Christmas songs to the classic "Jingle Bells". Apparently, riding in a one-horse open sleigh now counts as an assault on the religious values of Morocco.
So, in conclusion, the real evidence against the families amounts to little more than one book of children's stories about Jesus and a dual language Arabic/English Bible. And the only one that was intended without a doubt for the children, the only claimed object of proselytizing, was the Arabic children's book.
That, in short, is the sum total of the evidence against the families that is available: one children's book.
It is, of course, not insignificant, but it was made to seem much, much worse in the Moroccan coverage of the event. Real reporting would not have used guilt by association and appeals to Moroccan ignorance to make the case. Of course, US media is not much better, particularly when it comes to the issue of Islam, but the principle remains the same.
In both cases, it shows just how profoundly ignorant we all are about the other culture, even as we rush to judge and condemn it.
The Complete List From the 2M Broadcast
"Mes chants préferés" - a hymnbook for children it seems
"Banurama - Hyat assaid almasiH" (a children's book in Arabic about Jesus' life)
"The Children's Treasury of Virtues" by William J. Bennett
"The Singing Word" - a hymnbook
"Job's Gift" by Max Lucado
Tape set - "How to start a Bible Study in Your Neighborhood" by Jan Howard
"Classic Gospel Festival: Joyful" music CD
"Have I Ever Told You" - FFH
"Love is Letting Go of Fear"
"Historias Biblicas"
"Challenging Lifestyle"
"Unholy Devotion"
"Meet Your Church"
"The Schizophrenic Church"
"Beholding God"
"The Journey"
"Songs of Fellowship"
"Baptism" - Michael Green
"Joy"
"Power"
"Little Children Sing to God!" children's hymnbook
"God Can" a children's book by Bill and Gloria Gaither
"A Book of Christmas Carols" - opened up to Jingle Bells
"The Holy Bible" in Arabic and English
"Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective"
Showing posts with label Village of Hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Village of Hope. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Village of Hope Publishes Official Statement
Yesterday all the foster families from The Village of Hope signed this first official statement since the expulsions.
Right off the bat, they respond to the concern that I raised in an earlier post about education in Moroccan culture.
Later they praise the king and the international reputation of Morocco, and directly appeal to him to reunite them with their foster children:
After the official statement is posted a waiver that volunteers were required to sign. It requires volunteers to avoid proselytism but encourages them to openly identify as Christians. If every volunteer signed this statement and followed it to the letter, then The Village of Hope is absolutely in the right. The way to verify such a claim would be to talk with a number of the volunteers as well as with those who observed them during their stay and see if they can provide confirmation.
All in all, the statement is a pretty powerful refutation of the authorities' claims against them. They allege that neither they nor volunteers engaged in proselytism or defamed the King, Muhammed, or Islam. The children received an Islamic education and they were given love, expensive medical care, and material comfort.
Of course, I have never visited The Village of Hope. So I have no way of verifying any of the claims lodged against them. They very well could be true. A decade of passed inspections and good relations with the neighboring community inclines me to think otherwise, but their truth is not outside the realm of possibility.
And if they are true, then surely the authorities would be able to provide substantial proof and explanation of their aggressive actions against the families. But there has been no real public discussion or explanation of these actions. The local media marshaled Moroccan Jews and Catholics to roundly condemn proselytizing without actually knowing the details. Outside of Morocco, there has been nothing but support for the expelled foster parents.
A proper response would have involved a full discussion and debate both in the domestic and international public square as well as a full presentation of the evidence before a court where the foster parents would have had the right to defend themselves against the accusations. Then everyone involved would have been able to decide for themselves whether the government or The Village of Hope was in the right.
None of these things has happened. And if there is any tragedy in this situation that rivals the removal of children from their longtime foster parents, it is that there has been not even an inkling of due process or real debate.
Right off the bat, they respond to the concern that I raised in an earlier post about education in Moroccan culture.
VOH has always operated with the full knowledge and agreement of the Moroccan authorities with the overt understanding that the overseas workers are Christian. It has also always been understood that the children would be raised in a Muslim/Christian environment but would also be fully immersed in their Moroccan culture in terms of love for their country, language, education and knowledge of Islam.
Later they praise the king and the international reputation of Morocco, and directly appeal to him to reunite them with their foster children:
We openly and unashamedly appeal directly to the King, as a Father himself, to act with mercy and help us reach a point of compromise and reunite the 33 children with the only parents they know.
After the official statement is posted a waiver that volunteers were required to sign. It requires volunteers to avoid proselytism but encourages them to openly identify as Christians. If every volunteer signed this statement and followed it to the letter, then The Village of Hope is absolutely in the right. The way to verify such a claim would be to talk with a number of the volunteers as well as with those who observed them during their stay and see if they can provide confirmation.
All in all, the statement is a pretty powerful refutation of the authorities' claims against them. They allege that neither they nor volunteers engaged in proselytism or defamed the King, Muhammed, or Islam. The children received an Islamic education and they were given love, expensive medical care, and material comfort.
Of course, I have never visited The Village of Hope. So I have no way of verifying any of the claims lodged against them. They very well could be true. A decade of passed inspections and good relations with the neighboring community inclines me to think otherwise, but their truth is not outside the realm of possibility.
And if they are true, then surely the authorities would be able to provide substantial proof and explanation of their aggressive actions against the families. But there has been no real public discussion or explanation of these actions. The local media marshaled Moroccan Jews and Catholics to roundly condemn proselytizing without actually knowing the details. Outside of Morocco, there has been nothing but support for the expelled foster parents.
A proper response would have involved a full discussion and debate both in the domestic and international public square as well as a full presentation of the evidence before a court where the foster parents would have had the right to defend themselves against the accusations. Then everyone involved would have been able to decide for themselves whether the government or The Village of Hope was in the right.
None of these things has happened. And if there is any tragedy in this situation that rivals the removal of children from their longtime foster parents, it is that there has been not even an inkling of due process or real debate.
US Ambassador on Expulsions
Samuel Kaplan, the United States Ambassador to Morocco, sent out this email yesterday:
Notice that he does not take issue with the charge of proselytism, which the long time residents of The Village of Hope do dispute. The families assert that they did teach the Koran as required by Moroccan law and culture. They further state that they never hid the fact that they were a Christian organization and that the children naturally took part in their Christian activities. On repeated occasions, The Village of Hope passed inspection by the Moroccan authorities.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that the serious issue in this case is due process of law. The laws were not consistently applied, and excessively severe measures were taken. If there had been consistent standards throughout the process, either The Village of Hope would not have been allowed to be established in the first place or certain activities would have been curtailed since the refounding of the orphanage over 10 years ago. Furthermore, if there had been due process of law, the families would have been allowed a hearing in a court of law or in a real public forum before their exportation.
None of these possibilities occurred.
Warden Message- Expelled Americans
March 11, 2010
Dear Fellow Americans,
The events of the last few days are undoubtedly of concern. As most of you already know, a number of Americans have been expelled from Morocco. Many of those expelled were long-time Moroccan residents.
While we have not communicated with each person who was expelled, we believe that, in each case, alleged proselytizing is the Moroccan government's stated reason for such action.
My colleagues and I have been continuously in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express our dismay over the action taken. We have not disputed or questioned the laws of Morocco. While the Moroccan Constitution provides for the individual right to practice one's religion, proselytizing is strictly prohibited. Rather, we have expressed, in the strongest possible terms, our distress over the manner in which the expulsions were carried out.
The refusal of the Government to grant a hearing where the affected parties could be heard violates fundamental rules of due process.
Moreover, the failure of the Government to grant an appropriate period for those expelled to attempt to put their affairs in order is neither fair nor excusable. In addition, the potential harm to those left behind is obvious and real.
We do not seek to alter the laws of Morocco. We need to be assured that our citizens are treated in accordance with universally accepted standards of fairness. I will continue to monitor this situation, and will speak out for the interests of American citizens.
The U.S. Embassy in Rabat is located at 2 Avenue Mohamed El Fassi and can be reached at 0537-76-22-65. Consular Services are located at the U.S. Consulate General in Casablanca at 8 Blvd. Moulay Youssef.
Should you have questions, I urge you to contact our American Citizens' Services Unit at the U.S. Consulate in Casablanca at 0661-79-70-00 Monday through Friday from 8 AM until 5 PM. After hours or on weekends, please call 0661-17-23-67
Sincerely,
Samuel L. Kaplan
Ambassador
Notice that he does not take issue with the charge of proselytism, which the long time residents of The Village of Hope do dispute. The families assert that they did teach the Koran as required by Moroccan law and culture. They further state that they never hid the fact that they were a Christian organization and that the children naturally took part in their Christian activities. On repeated occasions, The Village of Hope passed inspection by the Moroccan authorities.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that the serious issue in this case is due process of law. The laws were not consistently applied, and excessively severe measures were taken. If there had been consistent standards throughout the process, either The Village of Hope would not have been allowed to be established in the first place or certain activities would have been curtailed since the refounding of the orphanage over 10 years ago. Furthermore, if there had been due process of law, the families would have been allowed a hearing in a court of law or in a real public forum before their exportation.
None of these possibilities occurred.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
UPDATE on "The Village of Hope" Raid
My last post inspired a number of informative responses. After having combed the news and read through their responses, here are some further thoughts on The Village of Hope raid.
The Structure of The Village of Hope
In the comments section, Mona reports that the parents did teach the children the basic tenets of Islam. In response to my question about culture, she points out that the structure of The Village of Hope allowed for constant interaction with both Moroccan and foreign culture. The orphanage was divided into a series of houses that could hold up to 10 children each with one set of foster parents. So in each of the individual houses, the Moroccan children spoke the language of the foster families, whether Dutch, English, or French. But it seems that in the communal areas they engaged with the other children and Moroccan staff in Arabic.
The Role of Radical Islam
As I sift through the news coverage of this event, I have noticed that a continuous strand in some Christian coverage is to credit some current of radical Islam in Morocco for the raid. Take this quote from CBN News which follows a purely descriptive report:
These sort of comments show a profound ignorance of the political situation in Morocco. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has absolutely nothing to do with these expulsions!
The Moroccan king has suppressed both far leftists and hard core Islamicists for decades now because they are both a threat in some form to the more moderate monarchy. Events in January further demonstrated the royal hand in politics when the king replaced a significant number of ministers. Those in Morocco seem aware of this, pointing out that the raid order came from the newly installed Minister of Justice Mohammed Naciri. He is not from the popular Islamicist PJD party, which is necessarily a moderate Islamicist party in order to even operate in Morocco. What Westerners must realize is that there has never been the same sort of separation of church and state in the Arab world that we have. So even the moderate parties recognize the primacy of Islam at least in name. Being exclusively Muslim does not mean being radically Muslim.
This ignorance in evangelical Christianity of the basic dynamics in other countries and of their most important news items is one of the things I have always struggled with. Anyone who took the time to talk with someone a bit from one of these countries, read a book, or follow the news would not make these blatantly false insinuations. An organization claiming to give "Christian news" should take the time to actually learn about the people and nations it is trying to love and serve, let alone report on.
On the positive side, the coverage by World magazine has been fair and factual.
Volunteers vs. Families
Mona further notes that there is a difference between the families, who maintained a continuous presence in the country, and volunteers, who would come for short stays. She alludes to the possibility that the volunteers engaged in proselytizing. If this is the case, the case against expelling the families is weaker still.
The Human Toll
A number of responses to my post, as well as much of the online outpouring of emotion, deals directly with the human aspect of this raid. The Village of Hope was probably the best thing that ever happened to these children. Some families had been there for a decade, loving and caring for these orphans. While that bond could not be legally legitimated because of the parents' Christian faith, it was as close as you come to real parenthood.
Now the children will go without the only group of people who ever really showed them love. The parents' emotional attachment to these children was strong, and so their bereavement will also be strong.
On the response page to the World Magazine news coverage, Ralph had this to say:
Going Forward
For those of you who believe in the power of Facebook groups, one has been started here. There was a Twitter feed, but it has been shut down, at least here in Morocco. When I tried to access it, I received the warning, "Hold up! Sorry, the profile you were trying to view has been suspended due to strange activity." I do not know what this means.
Articles appear to be in the works at The New York Times and at Tel Quel. The Moroccan Dispatches will link to them if they are indeed published.
Finally, if you are Muslim, I ask you to think and talk about your relationship with Christians, on a personal and national level. While we may disagree on many fundamental points, surely we can agree on certain humanitarian principles and consistency in the application of national laws.
Christians, let us take time again to contemplate our own faults, our own sins, even as we have striven to do God's work. We are not perfect, and the means does not justify the ends, even in Christian work. Let us take time to learn and respect other cultures.
And if, as it seems the case at The Village of Hope, this has occurred, let us take refuge in prayer, supplicating for justice and love for all those involved.
The Structure of The Village of Hope
In the comments section, Mona reports that the parents did teach the children the basic tenets of Islam. In response to my question about culture, she points out that the structure of The Village of Hope allowed for constant interaction with both Moroccan and foreign culture. The orphanage was divided into a series of houses that could hold up to 10 children each with one set of foster parents. So in each of the individual houses, the Moroccan children spoke the language of the foster families, whether Dutch, English, or French. But it seems that in the communal areas they engaged with the other children and Moroccan staff in Arabic.
The Role of Radical Islam
As I sift through the news coverage of this event, I have noticed that a continuous strand in some Christian coverage is to credit some current of radical Islam in Morocco for the raid. Take this quote from CBN News which follows a purely descriptive report:
The expulsion of foreign Christians could be linked to the rise of radical Islam in Morocco-- a threat that CBN News has reported for years.
"I think we should be very concerned about the continued operation, cultivation, support and probably growth of al Qaeda cells in North Africa," radical Islam expert Steven Emerson told CBN News in 2005.
These sort of comments show a profound ignorance of the political situation in Morocco. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has absolutely nothing to do with these expulsions!
The Moroccan king has suppressed both far leftists and hard core Islamicists for decades now because they are both a threat in some form to the more moderate monarchy. Events in January further demonstrated the royal hand in politics when the king replaced a significant number of ministers. Those in Morocco seem aware of this, pointing out that the raid order came from the newly installed Minister of Justice Mohammed Naciri. He is not from the popular Islamicist PJD party, which is necessarily a moderate Islamicist party in order to even operate in Morocco. What Westerners must realize is that there has never been the same sort of separation of church and state in the Arab world that we have. So even the moderate parties recognize the primacy of Islam at least in name. Being exclusively Muslim does not mean being radically Muslim.
This ignorance in evangelical Christianity of the basic dynamics in other countries and of their most important news items is one of the things I have always struggled with. Anyone who took the time to talk with someone a bit from one of these countries, read a book, or follow the news would not make these blatantly false insinuations. An organization claiming to give "Christian news" should take the time to actually learn about the people and nations it is trying to love and serve, let alone report on.
On the positive side, the coverage by World magazine has been fair and factual.
Volunteers vs. Families
Mona further notes that there is a difference between the families, who maintained a continuous presence in the country, and volunteers, who would come for short stays. She alludes to the possibility that the volunteers engaged in proselytizing. If this is the case, the case against expelling the families is weaker still.
The Human Toll
A number of responses to my post, as well as much of the online outpouring of emotion, deals directly with the human aspect of this raid. The Village of Hope was probably the best thing that ever happened to these children. Some families had been there for a decade, loving and caring for these orphans. While that bond could not be legally legitimated because of the parents' Christian faith, it was as close as you come to real parenthood.
Now the children will go without the only group of people who ever really showed them love. The parents' emotional attachment to these children was strong, and so their bereavement will also be strong.
On the response page to the World Magazine news coverage, Ralph had this to say:
I’d just like to correct some of the information here. I know one of the families concerned personally, a wonderful family, and have just spent this evening with them as they try to process the shocking events that came upon them like a whirlwind. Their work was progressing well, all conditions and expectations of a home for children were satisfied and a recent inspection was fully supportive. Then, in the space of a few hours they were forced to board a bus and leave screaming and desperately upset children who couldn’t understand why the only people who had given them love and care were cruelly being forced to abandon them once more. And this was supposedly done in their own interests!
Just to clarify – Village of Hope has functioned for years as a place that Morocco has been happy to place children for fostering, with the Christian ethos and basis always clear and never hidden. What has happened is a shame on Islam and the government minister who sanctioned it, for Jesus is also recognised as a prophet in Islam. All love and care given to these children has been given by people devoted to Jesus who simply wanted to follow his example in caring and loving those rejected and abandoned by this world. They knew well enough not to proselytise in the community – but freedom of religion is constitutionally permitted in Morocco – or was until these recent events. My friends are a family with their own children who obviously have Christian books – the presence of which is the supposed “evidence” of law-breaking and criminality!
Please pray for the children left behind, one of whom is only 19 months and disabled, others of whom had to be reassured that they were not to blame for their parents being thrown out.
Going Forward
For those of you who believe in the power of Facebook groups, one has been started here. There was a Twitter feed, but it has been shut down, at least here in Morocco. When I tried to access it, I received the warning, "Hold up! Sorry, the profile you were trying to view has been suspended due to strange activity." I do not know what this means.
Articles appear to be in the works at The New York Times and at Tel Quel. The Moroccan Dispatches will link to them if they are indeed published.
Finally, if you are Muslim, I ask you to think and talk about your relationship with Christians, on a personal and national level. While we may disagree on many fundamental points, surely we can agree on certain humanitarian principles and consistency in the application of national laws.
Christians, let us take time again to contemplate our own faults, our own sins, even as we have striven to do God's work. We are not perfect, and the means does not justify the ends, even in Christian work. Let us take time to learn and respect other cultures.
And if, as it seems the case at The Village of Hope, this has occurred, let us take refuge in prayer, supplicating for justice and love for all those involved.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Christian Orphanage Raided
A few weeks ago while waiting for my roommate at the McDonald's here in Meknes, an American family passed by. And by "American family" I mean an American couple and two or three young Moroccan children that were obviously not theirs.
The couple was wearing very comfortable-looking sweats emblazoned with "Calvary Chapel" in large letters clearly betraying their Christian affiliation, or at least to my eyes. They stopped and talked to us a little bit, explaining how they worked at an orphanage an hour or so outside of Meknes and how a trip to McDonald's is a huge event for their kids. In our short and friendly conversation, they were quite open, which surprised me a bit given that Christian proselytism is illegal here in Morocco.
But Morocco is also a country without a strong sense of rule of law. Just because a law exists doesn't really mean anything. If you get pulled over for speeding, you pay the cop and go on your way. The few times a Moroccan gets taken in for hashish possession or for frequenting a prostitute the same thing happens. Mainly the poor are punished for breaking the law. When it comes to alcohol sales, the law is blatantly and openly violated every day. Even though it is technically illegal for Moroccans to sell alcohol to Muslims (which most Moroccans are required to be), alcohol is sold everywhere without recriminations.
I learned yesterday that the Village of Hope Orphanage where that couple worked was shut down by the Moroccan authorities. This follows in the wake of a series of expulsions of Christian missionaries in the past few months.
The Village of Hope is different, though. The orphanage, which took in children no one else wanted, was established with Moroccan approval and had existed in some form since the 1950s.
I know very little about this case. All I have is an email from a friend in Rabat, this Moroccan press release in French, my short encounter with The Village of Hope couple, and this history of The Village of Hope from their website.
As I mentioned, it's hard to know what really is permissible and what is not in Morocco since a rule on the books does not necessarily mean anything. So perhaps, the Moroccan authorities turned a blind eye for the past few decades just as they do with alcohol, hashish, prostitution, and speeding. Or perhaps The Village of Hope hid some of their activities. I do not know.
The new crack-down seems to be sparked by the Moroccan authorities' realization that Christian evangelicals are aggressively targeting Moroccans, as this quote from the press release hints:
These raids are taken within a broader fight ("s'inscrivent dans le cadre de la lutte") against evangelical attempts to shake the faith of Muslims ("ébranler la foi des musulmans").
Another thing I do not know is how The Village of Hope found children and took them into their homes, a place which sound quite nice. I assume it was not the pseudo-kidnapping that got American missionaries into trouble in Haiti after the earthquake. But even if their adoption of the children was in the clear, I do not know what they stated to the authorities about the religious teaching given to those Moroccan children.
Their website is rather discreet in its description:
To the Christian ear, the part about "training up each child" is clearly a paraphrase of Proverbs 22:6 ("Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." NASB). It's essentially a coded message that the children will receive Christian teaching. A Muslim reading the same description would not catch the allusion. Whether or not the Moroccan authorities knew that instruction went on at all is another unknown. I think it's obvious, but then not all Christian organizations teach Christianity. The Catholic church is involved in a number of humanitarian activities devoid of Christian teaching.
I am curious about what sort of education they received. Generally, I believe in religious liberty. But depending on the law, Christians should also render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. We could debate what that means when it comes to a country without a strong rule of law tradition, but there are ways to minister to Moroccans while still staying on the right side of the land.
Now, religion is one thing, but culture is another. I'm curious what these children were going to do once they grew up. The ability to reintegrate into Moroccan society is important enough for The Village of Hope to mention (how I understand "Well balanced and thoroughly equipped young people"). And yet that would be difficult for those children if all the teachers and families at the orphanage are American. Not knowing even the rudiments of Islam or the omnipresent cultural reminders of it presents a challenge to anyone trying to integrate into the culture.
The couple was wearing very comfortable-looking sweats emblazoned with "Calvary Chapel" in large letters clearly betraying their Christian affiliation, or at least to my eyes. They stopped and talked to us a little bit, explaining how they worked at an orphanage an hour or so outside of Meknes and how a trip to McDonald's is a huge event for their kids. In our short and friendly conversation, they were quite open, which surprised me a bit given that Christian proselytism is illegal here in Morocco.
But Morocco is also a country without a strong sense of rule of law. Just because a law exists doesn't really mean anything. If you get pulled over for speeding, you pay the cop and go on your way. The few times a Moroccan gets taken in for hashish possession or for frequenting a prostitute the same thing happens. Mainly the poor are punished for breaking the law. When it comes to alcohol sales, the law is blatantly and openly violated every day. Even though it is technically illegal for Moroccans to sell alcohol to Muslims (which most Moroccans are required to be), alcohol is sold everywhere without recriminations.
I learned yesterday that the Village of Hope Orphanage where that couple worked was shut down by the Moroccan authorities. This follows in the wake of a series of expulsions of Christian missionaries in the past few months.
The Village of Hope is different, though. The orphanage, which took in children no one else wanted, was established with Moroccan approval and had existed in some form since the 1950s.
I know very little about this case. All I have is an email from a friend in Rabat, this Moroccan press release in French, my short encounter with The Village of Hope couple, and this history of The Village of Hope from their website.
As I mentioned, it's hard to know what really is permissible and what is not in Morocco since a rule on the books does not necessarily mean anything. So perhaps, the Moroccan authorities turned a blind eye for the past few decades just as they do with alcohol, hashish, prostitution, and speeding. Or perhaps The Village of Hope hid some of their activities. I do not know.
The new crack-down seems to be sparked by the Moroccan authorities' realization that Christian evangelicals are aggressively targeting Moroccans, as this quote from the press release hints:
L'ensemble des mesures prises par les autorités marocaines s'inscrivent dans le cadre de la lutte menée contre les tentatives de propagation du crédo évangéliste, visant à ébranler la foi des musulmans.
These raids are taken within a broader fight ("s'inscrivent dans le cadre de la lutte") against evangelical attempts to shake the faith of Muslims ("ébranler la foi des musulmans").
Another thing I do not know is how The Village of Hope found children and took them into their homes, a place which sound quite nice. I assume it was not the pseudo-kidnapping that got American missionaries into trouble in Haiti after the earthquake. But even if their adoption of the children was in the clear, I do not know what they stated to the authorities about the religious teaching given to those Moroccan children.
Their website is rather discreet in its description:
New housing units have been designed to accommodate a married couple and 10 children. We believe, that parents will within this family environment be able to spend time, energy, patience and concentration in order to actively become involved In the child reasing process. There will be 10 housing units so the home will, when fully occupied, be able to house 100 children. We would endeavour to train up each child in the way he or she should go, so that when they are mature they will not forget the training they have received. The results will be well balanced and thoroughly equipped young people.
To the Christian ear, the part about "training up each child" is clearly a paraphrase of Proverbs 22:6 ("Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." NASB). It's essentially a coded message that the children will receive Christian teaching. A Muslim reading the same description would not catch the allusion. Whether or not the Moroccan authorities knew that instruction went on at all is another unknown. I think it's obvious, but then not all Christian organizations teach Christianity. The Catholic church is involved in a number of humanitarian activities devoid of Christian teaching.
I am curious about what sort of education they received. Generally, I believe in religious liberty. But depending on the law, Christians should also render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. We could debate what that means when it comes to a country without a strong rule of law tradition, but there are ways to minister to Moroccans while still staying on the right side of the land.
Now, religion is one thing, but culture is another. I'm curious what these children were going to do once they grew up. The ability to reintegrate into Moroccan society is important enough for The Village of Hope to mention (how I understand "Well balanced and thoroughly equipped young people"). And yet that would be difficult for those children if all the teachers and families at the orphanage are American. Not knowing even the rudiments of Islam or the omnipresent cultural reminders of it presents a challenge to anyone trying to integrate into the culture.
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