Trafficked Women
Okay, so this isn't the happiest post. With these women on my mind I can't think about how to make the best stew ever, or the new ways to decorate my bathroom. The Lord won't leave me alone with this issue and the irony of it. Yes, I said irony, but you'll have to wait and see what I mean by that.
A couple of weeks ago John and I attended a birthday party. I anticipated a few laughs, great food and the chance to meet some new friends. I didn't expect that my evening would be clouded the way it was.
We found our way to the west side of Heidleberg that night. It's sort of a questionable side of town. It's not cutesy like the Haupstrasse. No neat old buildings, or chic cafes, families and/or sidewalk musicians. Just gray buildings, barren lots, and neon lit dives.
We avoided hitting, in the minimal light, several teenagers hovering over our destined parking lot. They were out drinking/carousing, or whatever. I felt a little nervous as we got out of our car and started walking. I thought, if one of these guys had the notion, they could mug us without a problem. There were a lot of them out there, without a real life, in my summation. We stepped along, quickly. I was focused on covering myself from the cold weather and trying to appear confident and..... cold (not temperature). In my day, I have warded off a few potential (and not so much) perpetrators with hard glances. Then I heard John say "That must be the whore house our friends were talking about."
That remark came out of no where and threw me off my assumed guard. Though trying to appear determined to get to where we were going, I couldn't help myself ask "where?" and glance up at a hotel filling one side of the street.
It was your average run down hotel complete with pink lights in the windows. I collected my thoughts around the openness of it. I was overcome by the cheapness. I was overcome with the size. I was overcome by the fact that, just across the street women were lessoned to little more than a commodity.....by the dozens.
I don't know how much you know about trafficking, but it is an issue that has been on my mind since June. Women being kidnapped from Eastern block countries, or the like, and shipped around the world. It seems that no country is exempt from this solicitation, everyone is a customer from soldiers, to World Cup fans. All have not done an adequate job stopping this debase business.
Is anybody asking why?
First read this interview.
Some of you have decided that this is a result of a fallen world, and God is still Sovereign, and you really need to make the meatloaf... "can we get on to a lighter subject?" You're right, but when I saw a waiting room full of middle aged men playing cards, I asked myself "where are their wives?"
Could it be that this Women's Rights Liberal Movement has back fired and taken away the rights of countless, shall we say, under privileged (i.e. not supported by their society) women? Has it gone too far? Men will be satisfied one way or the other in this fallen world (it just might be one of the oldest trades in the book). If their wives aren't doing it........who?....well, you see the results.
It may seem like a wild jump of a conclusion, but think about it, why are these men lonely? I am just glad there are ladies out there who want to make the meatloaf, they want to greet their husband when he comes home, they want to put their families first before the next rung on the ladder of their business endeavors. They realize the joy in doing it, and the importance of it. Maybe they are the one group of people that aren't contributing to it. Maybe?
A couple of weeks ago John and I attended a birthday party. I anticipated a few laughs, great food and the chance to meet some new friends. I didn't expect that my evening would be clouded the way it was.
We found our way to the west side of Heidleberg that night. It's sort of a questionable side of town. It's not cutesy like the Haupstrasse. No neat old buildings, or chic cafes, families and/or sidewalk musicians. Just gray buildings, barren lots, and neon lit dives.
We avoided hitting, in the minimal light, several teenagers hovering over our destined parking lot. They were out drinking/carousing, or whatever. I felt a little nervous as we got out of our car and started walking. I thought, if one of these guys had the notion, they could mug us without a problem. There were a lot of them out there, without a real life, in my summation. We stepped along, quickly. I was focused on covering myself from the cold weather and trying to appear confident and..... cold (not temperature). In my day, I have warded off a few potential (and not so much) perpetrators with hard glances. Then I heard John say "That must be the whore house our friends were talking about."
That remark came out of no where and threw me off my assumed guard. Though trying to appear determined to get to where we were going, I couldn't help myself ask "where?" and glance up at a hotel filling one side of the street.
It was your average run down hotel complete with pink lights in the windows. I collected my thoughts around the openness of it. I was overcome by the cheapness. I was overcome with the size. I was overcome by the fact that, just across the street women were lessoned to little more than a commodity.....by the dozens.
I don't know how much you know about trafficking, but it is an issue that has been on my mind since June. Women being kidnapped from Eastern block countries, or the like, and shipped around the world. It seems that no country is exempt from this solicitation, everyone is a customer from soldiers, to World Cup fans. All have not done an adequate job stopping this debase business.
Is anybody asking why?
First read this interview.
Some of you have decided that this is a result of a fallen world, and God is still Sovereign, and you really need to make the meatloaf... "can we get on to a lighter subject?" You're right, but when I saw a waiting room full of middle aged men playing cards, I asked myself "where are their wives?"
Could it be that this Women's Rights Liberal Movement has back fired and taken away the rights of countless, shall we say, under privileged (i.e. not supported by their society) women? Has it gone too far? Men will be satisfied one way or the other in this fallen world (it just might be one of the oldest trades in the book). If their wives aren't doing it........who?....well, you see the results.
It may seem like a wild jump of a conclusion, but think about it, why are these men lonely? I am just glad there are ladies out there who want to make the meatloaf, they want to greet their husband when he comes home, they want to put their families first before the next rung on the ladder of their business endeavors. They realize the joy in doing it, and the importance of it. Maybe they are the one group of people that aren't contributing to it. Maybe?
Comments
sometimes the simplest things are overlooked as being too simple minded.
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I have been sneaking peeks of your blog for a long time now. I didn't realize you were looking at mine too. :)
I love your posts - they are always very interesting and thought provoking. This particular topic is indeed sad. And I agree with your ideas concerning how we got where we are.