home | board | compass | prayer | eCard

[Main Index]

09/23/2002 Entry: "Children"

A day or two ago I was involved in a conversation about the practice of adopting a baby via the internet. A search on the web reveals many sites which are full of pictures of cute babies, and with lists of the agencies’ adoption fees. Whilst the agencies protest that these fees are paid for their professional services and do not constitute ‘buying a baby’, in practice it is noticeable that white babies attract higher fees than black or mixed race babies, healthy babies ‘cost’ more than those with disabilities. Human life, it seems, has a price not a value.There are those who will try to make this an issue about the internet, and draconian measures are often being called for, mostly by those who have little or no understanding of the way that the internet works. But this is a red herring. What this practice reveals is the increasing tendency to regard children as commodities: life style accessories rather than a deep and life-long commitment. A society in which children can be bought and sold, however that is dressed up, is a society which is suffering from a deep and fundamental sickness. “International Adoption Agencies” are a symptom of this sickness, not a cause of it.It is too easy ‘to point the finger’ and not recognise that all of us bear some responsibility for the way that children are treated in our society. We all have a part to play; by seeing that our own children receive the respect they deserve and the discipline they need, by encouraging and offering support to our neighbours, and by offering our prayerful support to schools and teachers. The care of children is a most solemn duty placed on all God’s people. None of us can shirk our obligation to the little ones that have been placed among us.