A BUNCH of American Baptists are in custody in Haiti after trying to smuggle 33 children across the border into the Dominican Republic, allegedly without proper documents.
The Baptist church members from Idaho called it a “Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission”, meant to save abandoned children from the chaos following Haiti’s earthquake. Their plan was to scoop up 100 kids and take them by bus to a rented hotel at a beach resort in the Dominican Republic, where they intended to establish an orphanage.
Distraught young Haitians in the aftermath of the earthquake
According to this report, whether they realised it or not, the Baptists – the first known people to be taken into custody since the January 12 earthquake – put themselves in the middle of a firestorm in Haiti, where government leaders have suspended adoptions amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to child trafficking.
The group’s leader, Laura Silsby explained:
In this chaos the government is in right now we were just trying to do the right thing.
The religious busybodies are being held pending a court hearing tomorrow.
Silsby said they only had the best of intentions and paid no money for the children. She said her group obtained them through a well-known Haitian pastor named Jean Sanbil of the Sharing Jesus Ministries.
Silsby, 40, of Boise, Idaho, was asked if she didn’t consider it naive to cross the border without adoption papers at a time when Haitians are so concerned about child trafficking.
She replied:
By no means are we any part of that. That’s exactly what we are trying to combat.
Social Affairs Minister Yves Cristallin told reporters the Americans were suspected of taking part in an illegal adoption scheme.
Cristallin said the 33 children were lodged late last night at an SOS Children’s Village outside of Port-au-Prince. SOS Children’s Villages is a global non-profit organisation based in Austria.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 31st, 2010 at 8:09 pm
These religious types wouldn’t know right from wrong, moral from immoral if they were hit in the face with a shovel representing these values. They regard themselves as transcending all laws except their own superstitions. May I offer an example from the UK? While a bunch of freeloading, poking their noses in, unelected bishops in the House of Lords did all they could to stymie assisted dying we now discover that they are way out of line with public opinion.
Pascal Boyer of Washington University considers religion as an “opportunistic mental infection.” I like that.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:22 pm
You’re right, Broga. These fundamentalists and other religious groups here in America are a pox on our country. The sad thing is that they have a lot of supporters and large sums of money that they have used to influence civil discourse and government policies, usually in a negative way, and they are never wrong. They should be locked up for pulling a stunt like this one.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Typical christians thinking they are doing good (to tell other people how great they are) and all the time it’s about money and power…..
But this time they got caught…. if there were anywhere left in Haiti to lock ‘em up I’d say do that and throw away the guy (Baptists are the nastiest nastiest sort of the religiously retarded)…as it is I’d say put them on grave digging duty for a few weeks….then maybe they’d learn some humility.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:37 pm
I should point out that “American Baptists” is a bit confusing since there is a denomination called American Baptists. Those arrested do no seem to be affiliated with the American Baptists but rather with the Southern Baptists.
January 31st, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Lol, when Anonymous heard about this they had to run and check that Scientology wasn’t involved. They’re being sued for human trafficking right now. Little surprised it was these guys…
“Sharing Jesus Ministries” – and sharing some children, too. Here, take some.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Erp, a baptist is a baptist, they’re all fucking nuts!
I would like to see these evengalical fuckwits given jail time.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Stealing the kids to indoctrinate or sell on at profit; an every day activity for the religious vermin. I bet when these baptist bastards get to court they’ll say “but god told me to do it” and be released without charge.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:05 am
Doing it for the children, of course. That way they could make sure the children went to “proper” Christian families where they’d be indoctrinated as proper little godbots. Why else would they avoid setting up their little operation via legal channels, and instead grab the children and run for the border?
February 1st, 2010 at 1:59 am
Angela K:
“Stealing the kids to indoctrinate or sell on at profit”.
Maybe free minds think alike. That is the first thing that came into my head, too. Rescue a child, charge enormous money to place a child with a church approved family, they have not only done it with money they conned out of other brainwash victims, recovered their cost by selling babies, but get a brainwashed convert in return. What a perfect scam. It would be interesting to audit their role in the Myanmar hurricane and the Indonesian tsunami, as well.
NeoWolfe
February 1st, 2010 at 3:27 am
They were trying to take these kids out of a country that’s in turmoil. There’s limited medical care, food, electricity, and clean water. Those monsters wanted to take them to the Dominican Republic where they could have a bed to sleep in and maybe even take a bath! Bastards!
February 1st, 2010 at 5:34 am
Alan C.,
Not all Baptists are the same. Southern Baptists are the largest denomination and are conservative and getting more conservative (Jimmy Carter split from them over that). American Baptists tend to be more liberal though considerably smaller in size (there are out gay American Baptist ministers as well as women in prominent ministerial positions, neither is true for the Southern Baptists [which if anything has moved backwards on women in the ministry]). Then there are the smaller denominations and independent Baptist churches.
February 1st, 2010 at 8:25 am
“For the director of music. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” Psalm 14:1
February 1st, 2010 at 9:03 am
What on earth is @Ivey talking about? Kidnapping children is OK then, as long as they are materially better off as a result? What a strange attitude for Christians to take!
Buffy has put it in a nutshell, but I have to point out a discrepancy in the title of this thread: Are there other types of Baptists besides the “barmy” ones?
And @Jeremy: Habbakuk 3 shows that those little “titles” given to the Psalms in the AV are really postscripts to the previous ones. At least get it right!!
February 1st, 2010 at 9:27 am
Ivey, your post implies that the bapists’ actions were honourable; if so why the kidnapping and subterfuge?
February 1st, 2010 at 10:12 am
For f**k’s sakes wake up, Ivey. They were taking those kids for highly, highly dubious motives and deserve to do time for it. If the abductors really were legit, why all the subterfuge?
February 1st, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Anybody read the chat on some of the right wing US press? Seems these people were ‘well meaning’ people, maybe naive?
OK. I’m Canadian. So here’s the scenario. I’ve picked up 33 homeless kids from the streets of Chicago. No passports; no documents. I’m crossing the Manitoba/North Dakota border. But hey; I’ve got a hotel in Winnipeg and plans to build an orphanage. Sorry; just being naive and well meaning! What would the US government do?!
God save us from the best intentions of the US Religious Right!
February 1st, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Slightly off topic, but sometimes the news isn’t all bad. There I was, slurping my coffee, and reading the Freethinker about all the clowns who prate junk about their fantasies. And when you read about Stephen Green and Pat Robertson (the Haiti madman) you are deep,deep in lunatic territory. Then I came across a review by Barry Duke of God Hates You: Hate Him Back. Available on Amazon. I took a look, liked what I saw, and even better they were almost sold out – only two copies left, more on order. I ordered one.
This book, from what I read, has the kind of wit and fun that offers an approach to ridiculing the bible nonsense that seems to invite it to be read. The reason I am writing this is that even while reading the review I get a phone call. This is from a friend who says, “Have you come across “God Hates You: Hate Him Back.” He adds, “Must have something going for it. Half my son’s 6th Form are on to it.”
Could this be the chink in the iron clad armour of stupidy that cloaks the fundies? If it is fun, at least their kids will read it.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:22 pm
@ Broga. Watch out later for a caption contest we will be running later this evening. First prize will be “God Hates You ..”
February 1st, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Just another tidbit on Southern Baptist history:
.
The reason there is a denomination called “Southern Baptists” at all is because just before the Civil War broke out in the US in the 1800′s, the Baptist church of the South wanted to ally themselves with the Confederacy and so officially declared themselves the “Southern Baptist” church. (After the war, the Northern Baptists suggested they reunite and the Southerners declined.)
There’s a lot of different denominations in the South but the Southern Baptists are by far the biggest and most powerful.
If worse came to worst and America really did become a theocracy I’d lay money on the Southern Baptists becoming the major political players. God forbid
February 1st, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Barry: Thanks. Will do.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Jeremy, why on earth do you feel the need to quote Psalm 14/53 at us as if you imagine that we have not heard it a thousand times before? Not only is it tiresome but it is also demonstably untrue. The fact is the more intelligent and educated a person is the less likely they are to believe in God, this is a proven fact, so “The fool has said in his heart there is no God” is not only untrue but is in fact the total opposite of true. It is also interesting to note that there were atheists around even in Old Testament times and the believers had no arguments other than insults and assertions. As for the part about good deeds, there is a long and distinguished history of philanthropy and social reform carried out by unbelievers so that part is false as well.
So Jeremy, is your God a liar or does he just not know what he is talking about? Or perhaps he does not even exist and the Bible is just a clumsily compiled heap of old scrolls. That would at least explain why this particular Psalm is included twice.
February 1st, 2010 at 7:35 pm
“The fool has said in his heart there is no God†The wise man says it out loud.
To be fair, I have no reason to believe the Baptists had sinister motives: it probably never occurred to them that Haitians needed to be consulted about the fate of their children when decent Americans were about god’s work. It speaks more of arrogance and disdain – the other side of the coin that says ‘God sends natural disasters to punish the wicked’ is ‘God sends natural disasters so that the godly can demonstrate their godliness’. Either way the victims are not seen as having agency or dignity, they are just a resource to be used.
Any charity which does not have long experience on the ground in the region in question should send money and stay the hell away from disaster zones: they just get in the way and use up resources. Vultures are useful, sociable and intelligent creatures. Religious vultures, not so much.
February 1st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Stonyground. Maybe Jeremy should have a look at current brain research by Professor Michael Persinger who is affiliated to the Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Canada. He has produced a “God Helmet” and of 1,000 people tested he found 8 out of 10 had experiences of spiritual presences. Guess what, Stony? The RCs felt the Virgin Mary, Muslims experiences Mohammed, Native Americans felt various “spirits.”
The research is sophisticated and painstaking. However, it is currently a hot topic for PH.d students. When last I heard Persinger had 60 applicants and rising.
When Richard Dawkins tried the helmet on a Horizon programme he did not experience a “spiritual” presence. Wonder why that was?
Seems likely that St Paul, the Lourdes visions were the produces of brain activity as in epilepsy.
February 1st, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Gotta say this looks just a bit like prejudice to me. Let me go ahead and clear up somethings now.
1.) I am not Christian. I am agnostic
2.) I do not think what this group of Baptists did was either appropriate or intelligent.
However I think they were well intentioned and if circumstances had been just a bit different it would have been very honorable.
I think that is is commendable that they are trying to help the truly unfortunate people of Haiti.
Now from what I understand this is the basic scenario. Haiti has been hit hard by the recent earthquake including the Government of Haiti. It barely functions. This group of Baptist had 33 orphans and were trying to get them to the Dominican Republic. This makes sense because the Dominican Republic has better resources and it was not affected by the earthquake. I would not be surprised if many refugees are not there now. They applied to and received permission to do this from the Dominican Republic.
The mistake they made was in that fact they should have got permission from Haiti even in it’s shattered state. Haiti has a legitimate fear of child trafficking during these unfortunate times. They caught the Baptist and arrested them for this.
This is an occasion where wiser heads need to prevail. Clearly the Baptist were not trying to kidnap these children. If they were why would they file paperwork in the Dominican Republic? However what they did was illegal. I think an appropriate punishment would be this. Fine the Baptists and use the fine money to help repair Haiti. Seems honorable to me.
Would you all be screaming for blood so much if this was a group of freethinkers who made this mistake? Objectivity is trying to see events from the eyes of people you don’t like.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:34 am
Actually they were apparently trying to kidnap children but not to deliberately harm them.
They had to file paperwork in the Dominican Republic because they planned to stay there, but, I doubt the Dominican Republic would have investigated whether they had legal custody of the children. Not sure how they planned to get them back to the US. Perhaps adoption in the Dominican Republic with a bit of bribery.
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:22 am
All very easy to say, hiding from your computers, living a wealthy lifestyle with clean water, public transportation, and nutritious food.
Honestly, put yourselves in Haiti and see the thousands of dying children and parents. Would you really not do anything simply because its against the “rules”?
How many of you download music? Did you know you are hurting record companies?
How many of you break the speeding limit? Did you know traffic accidents kill more than drugs?
How many of you would jump into a flaming building to save your child/wife/husband/grandmother even if those around say you shouldn’t?
If you said yes to any of these questions, then you’d do what the baptists would have done.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm
What a creepy group of people. Is this also the group that goes around mutilating squirrels?
February 4th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Eye witness account of their idiocy hat tip Pharyngula
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyn.....p#comments
David B
February 6th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Broga, Majii, Petursey, Alan C., Angela K., Buffy, Neowolfe, Jeremy, Barriejohn, Marcus, Mythbuster, Lucky Jean, & Stonyground,
I guess I feel sorry for all of you. Your hate and generalizations of people-of-faith oozes with contempt (maybe jealousy too from your heartless existence). I’m not a Baptist, nor am I active in any church. However the public has learned since the horrific earthquake that over 10,000 US churches send volunteers to Haiti every year (before the quake). Often they go to simply deliver supplies because shipped supplies get stolen. They visit orphanages, take time to befriend kids, then along with pictures they take, return to their communities to share the sad stories of these kids to inspire more contributions for assistance. Typically the kids are Christian already and made arrangements with church groups they befriended.
Many of these US church groups were in Haiti when the quake hit. Some personally saw the horror their new Haitian friends are experiencing. Over 200,000 have died and there are numerous reports of newly childless kids from infants to teens being hunted and victimized in the anarchy that is now Haiti.
A caring human being who had the courage to leave their comfortable day to day routine to risk their lives to help other human beings in need may have faced what they judged to be a life-or-death decision: leave these nearly 3 dozen kids in this land of rotting bodies where people steal toothpaste so they can plug their noses so they do not have to smell the bloated, sun-baked, fly covered carcasses – so they could find any government official or building that wasn’t toppled, to do-the-paperwork, or, have-some-stones and shepherd the 33 kids past the countless food riots and victimizing (i.e.: did any of you see CNN show live after-dark chaos where Haitians ran screaming into a crowded park, saying that a tsunami was headed their way, causing a human-stampede, then the screamers swooped in and stole the minimal personal possessions the terrified Haitians dropped when they ran in fear) to safety.
Why don’t each of you go down to Haiti and walk in the rubble and food riots these kids are living in, live in the anarchy, then still defend that “the paperwork” comes first – then look into the eyes of these starving kids and tell them that while some have courageously decided to try to move kids to safer situations until the chaos gets under control, you are going to follow-the-red-tape of a government that virtually all Haitians and the global media have been asking where they disappeared to right after the quake.
The Haitian Government’s handling of the 10 is a travesty. Haiti is now getting a mushrooming PR black eye from the injustice of their arrest which is already having negative consequences on aid contributions globally (time, money, supplies and more). Child trafficking absolutely is a vital issue that Haiti must keep in check but the Haitian Governments’ zealous persecution of these 10 is misdirected at best and anti-American, anti-Christian and worse.
I know that some of you are probably incapable of being a mature grownup and gleefully enjoy the chance to ridicule any faith based person who gets into your view. What ever, you’re hopeless and pathetic.
Kris & Not-a-Baptist – kudos for a thread of rationale thought
Me – LOL
Hey superiority-complex Stonyground – ever heard of C.S. Lewis?