Last Wednesday without warning a Cat 5 hurricane or maybe an 8.0 earthquake cut through the middle of Mississippi passing through Canton, Carthage, Sebastopol, Morton, Forest, Bay Springs, Laurel leaving a trail of destruction. Many good people working for years in the poultry industry, paying taxes, many paying into a social security system they will never draw benefits from, caring for their families, shopping locally, and sending money home to family members in another country were rounded up in a workplace ICE raid. This was not a natural disaster. This was a political move. Now we have no one working, no one spending money, no one sending money to these countries, and new government-dependent children left behind and new government-dependent adults in detention. I don’t think any taxpayer could believe that this raid was a good use of our taxes. And there have been aftershocks. Another plant heard rumors of an additional raid and terminated 200 employees Monday.
I am not a politician. I did however just receive my first Social Security check this week so to some I may have a little more credibility. To others I may just be an old “f…” who needs to go home. What I do know is that we as Christians are responding differently from the two political extremes of the media. Funds and supplies are being amassed and a system is working to take care of basic bills until we can’t anymore. We, the church, are good at showing mercy. Now, let’s also pray for justice.
Love and Literacy 