This post is something I struggled with. Let me unpack that.  Over the last few years, I've kind of gotten a reputation for being "controversial" or writing blog posts that make people angry.  That is certainly never my intention in anything I write, but sometimes it happens.  People take things the way they want to, I guess.  Please, please know that I'm really not trying to make anyone mad.

I try to be upfront and let people know that most of the time when I write something, it's not supposed to be taken as news, but as commentary/opinion.  And you certainly don't have to agree with me, and I would never try to disguise my opinion or beliefs as news. That's crossing a line.

From time to time, I write about a local event I'd like to support.  Sometimes it's charity, sometimes it's not.  I'm not trying to be unfair to other events (since non profit events of all kinds get equal coverage on the Community Calendar, something I'm not in charge of) but I have to write about what moves me, you know?  What's the point of doing these things if I don't actually have something to really say about it?

Again, please note, I am not in the news department, this is my opinion, and you do not have to agree with me.  I don't plan on arguing with anybody about it.  If you disagree and decide to tell me so, I hope you'll do so in a civil, polite manner.

But here it is.  I don't agree with the policy in place that has separated migrant families from each other.  I don't think it's right that the kids can't be with their parents (after all, the kids aren't the ones who made the decision to come here).  I don't know if it's 100% true, but I heard that they are also not being given soap and toothpaste, and if that's true, that's not right.  I know people will say, "They're here illegally", and you have a point there.   But for me, it's about the kids.  The kids didn't ask for any of this, and they don't deserve to be punished for what their parents felt like they needed to do.

Really, a lot of things need to change when it comes to our immigration policies.  It takes years and often times a lot of money in many instances to come to our country legally. Some of these people who come illegally are here because their home countries have put them in dire straits, and they don't feel like they have the option to stay.  To use a metaphor, if your house was on fire, it's not like you'd stay inside of it and wait for the firefighters to come.  You'd get out ASAP.  I can understand that.

So having said that, I'm going to tell you about an event coming up tonight. Here's the quote from their Facebook page:

On Friday July 12th, 2019, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps, will bring thousands of people to locations worldwide as well as to concentration camps across country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants.  Our local vigil will be held on the Lawn of the Pettis County Courthouse from 7:30 - 9:30.  The vigil itself will begin at 9:00.  Beforehand we will network, strategize, and collect donations for Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, an advocacy organization that "supports and empowers the undocumented immigrant community in the greater Kansas City area."

I hope it is a peaceful event that goes well, and that everyone who attends takes the time to try to understand each other.  I think that's something that we've lost over the years.  It's like if someone disagrees with you, they have to lash out.  I don't see the point of that.  It's not necessary to respond to every disagreement with anger. I hope there will be some positive, helpful conversations on the Court House lawn.  I also hope there will be a good solution to this problem sooner rather than later.

I also hope this post doesn't get me in trouble again.  It probably will.  But I did think about this for a good few days before I decided to write about it.  And in the end, I came to the conclusion that me being afraid of writing about it was the exact reason why I had to.  I'm not a hugely political person, but I felt guilty over the idea of me NOT writing about the event just because I was afraid of people being angry with me and cussing me out as a "libtard" or whatever they want to say.  That's only part of it, though.  The other part is that I know I don't know as much as I should about the problem, and don't know if me even saying anything is going to be part of the solution.

Here's hoping we have a good talk about it.

Lightly yours,
Behka

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