Human trafficking. Sex slaves. Child slavery.

It’s something Americans associate with a few European or third world countries. But the U.S. State Department’s 2009 “Trafficking in Humans” Report documents problems in 175 nations.

Girls, women, children and even teen boys are being deceived, kidnapped, trapped and shipped everywhere from America to Africa.

And it could be happening at our neighborhood mini-market.

The wholesale trafficking of humans

From California to New England, the problem is spreading within the United States. It’s becoming as uncontrollable as the drug war that has raged for decades, despite the government’s best efforts.

The estimated FBI numbers from sources as varied as ABC Primetime in 2006 to Christianity Today in 2010 show 100,000-300,000 teens and children under the age of 18 have been trafficked within the states per year.

It is harder to obtain statistics for adult victims, because of a finer line between “voluntary” and forced prostitution or sexual slavery.

In April 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s office brought sex trafficking charges against the Gambino family, notoriously reputed to be part of the elusive “mob” in America.

With the arrest of 14 people, the charges include trapping girls to sell for sex at high stakes poker games in the middle of busy Manhattan.

Engaging in human trafficking is a new low even for the mob, U.S. Attorney’s office representatives stated in a press conference covered by MSNBC.

Also in April, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that human trafficking has become the biggest “invisible” crime in the state. Florida House Bill 633 and Senate Bill 966 are currently being proposed to help law enforcement push back against the sex slavery trade.

How can this happen in America?
The massive amounts of money to be made through human trafficking is a powerful aphrodisiac that has enticed more people, even women, to deal in such crimes. In the Gambino case, one of the people arrested was a woman known to be involved in luring the victims.

The process of obtaining victims for human trafficking:
For most teen girls and women, if they are not outright kidnapped, they’re being enticed by the possibility of modeling or acting jobs. The Hollywood dream of obtaining fame and fortune at a young age through television and movies has become an obsession.

When they get to their destination, they are thrown into vehicles or locked in back bedrooms and sold to countless customers for sex acts, sexual abuse, and to appear in pornographic movies against their will.

They may be starved, drugged, verbally abused to the point of having no self-esteem, and threatened with death if they attempt to escape.

For girls and boys who do run away from home, criminals recognize their vulnerability, hunger and brokenness and are able to entice them into prostitution and porn films with the promise of money. The victim may receive tiny payments to keep them involved.

For children, it often starts with simple nabbing from neighborhoods.

A U.S. Government grant helped reveal the child trafficking problem:
In 2008, an organization called Shared Hope International (SHI) applied for and received a government grant to study the suspected nationwide crisis of child trafficking between states. Their resulting survey revealed that many of the children were often being misidentified as delinquents, and  punished for crimes when they were actually victims.

Since then, the FBI and agencies such as the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families have started training personnel to recognize when a person is a human trafficking victim instead of a runaway or criminal themselves (HHS Fact Sheet here).

See the Underground’s previous report, “Sex + Money,” about the ongoing production of a new movie aimed at exposing the U.S. sex slave industry.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) failed to find mutual ground at a recently held meeting in Chicago regarding ELCA’s stand on ordaining partnered gays.

ELCA’s Rev. Marcus R. Kunz denied they have abandoned scriptural authority in so doing.

Rather, he said “We seek to be faithful to the evangelical purpose that God intends with the Scriptures” according to Christian Today.

LCMS President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick called it a difference in understanding of scriptural authority and interpretation.

Last month the LCMS presented ELCA with the document, “Theological Implications of the 2009 ELCA Decisions” which stated, “A church body‘s acceptance of homosexual activity promotes a false security about behavior and conduct which God has forbidden and from which He longs to redeem us.”

ELCA is the largest Lutheran church body, seconded by the LCMS.  According to ELCA’s website, they are a 20 year old assembly with 4.8 million members and some 10,500 congregations across the US and the Caribbean.

Because of this theological point of disagreement, LCMS expressed the possibility of severance from mutual projects the two groups are engaged in.

ELCA Rev. Mark Hanson however expressed hopes that relationships would not be severed but rather that they could engage in deeper conversation, according to Christian Today.

Christian Today also reported that hundreds of ELCA congregations have already taken steps to leave the denomination, with some forming a new Lutheran body, and others joining LCMS.

ELCA’s Rev. Rebecca Larson complained that the LCMS document gave the false impression that ELCA’s recognition of same gender relationships is the sole position of the whole church.

Larson said that same gender relationships are not central to determining salvation, hence ELCA believes they can live together with different practices, respecting the bound consciences of each other.

LCMS President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick/Credit: lcms.org

ELCA’s website cites, for example, how Paul felt it was okay to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols.  Paul also felt that rituals of holy days were issues where salvation was not at stake.

“This social statement draws upon this rich understanding of the role of conscience and calls upon this church, when in disagreement concerning matters around which salvation is not at stake, including human sexuality, to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), honor the conscience, and seek the well-being of the neighbor,”  according to ELCA’s website.

In the LCMS document they stated that they will not encourage discord in ELCA, but neither will they turn their backs on ELCA members who choose to leave their denomination to join the LCMS, Christian Today reported.

Despite a judge’s ruling that declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional, special observations were held across the nation and in several places in the capital city including the Pentagon, the Cannon House Office Building and the steps of the US Capitol, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Rev. Franklin Graham, who had been disinvited to the Pentagon because of comments he had made regarding the Islamic faith after 911 nonetheless prayed on a sidewalk outside the building.  Graham is honorary chairman of the private National Day of Prayer Task Force.

However, President Brack Obama, whose administration on April 22 appealed the judge’s ruling and issued a National Day of Prayer proclamation, did not hold an interfaith observance at the White House, according to the SunGazette.

On April 15, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment.  However in her decision, Crabb said ceremonies could still be held pending appeals.

In observances at Williamsport-Lycoming County, Pennsylvania keynote speaker state Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen challenged Crabb’s argument centered on the separation of church and state, and alleged violation of the First Amendment, the SunGazette said.

Allen said, “I couldn’t find separation of church and state in the Constitution.” Regarding the First Amendment she cited the first part which says, “Congress shall make no laws establishing a religion” and said the founding fathers came to America to escape England, which had established a church and persecuted those who would not attend.  Allen then noted the second portion of the First Amendment clause which states: “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

James Dobson, who founded Focus on the Family and whose wife chairs the National Day of Prayer said the event puts a prayer covering over the nation and noted that since 1775 the first Continental Congress called for a national day of prayer.

Dobson noted that 34 out of 44 Presidents have called for a national day of prayer including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush, the New York News Today reported.

Dobson said, “How can something be unconstitutional when it was passed by both houses of Congress unanimously and signed by Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman and implemented by all those Presidents back through the years?”

Charles Haynes, a First Amendment scholar who specializes in religious liberty expects President Obama to succeed with his appeal.  He said a  judge could possibly cite a 1983 Supreme Court decision that upheld the right to legislative prayer on grounds that “the offering of prayer is a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Political conservative pundit S.E. Cupp’s newest book, “Losing Our Religion:  The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity” has further polarized conservative and liberal media, even as its title and subject matter drew claims of irony.

Cupp’s book polarizes conservatives, liberals, raises claims of irony

Newsweek, which reviewed Cupp’s book, extensively quoted her and indicated page numbers; said it was melodramatic, patronizing to her readers, and inspired fear mongering.

Newsweek also denied that they are a mainstream publication, and said they are not attacking Christians or even religious freedom.

Media Matters for America focused on what Cupp wrote about evolution, and said that she does violence to the science of evolution and to the public’s expectations of science journalists and science teachers.

Cupp’s book has also raised a sense of irony that an atheist should write a book that strongly defends Christianity.  Cupp however says that political conservatives like herself would benefit if Christians worked harder to protect their turf, as mainstream liberal media shoots two birds with one stone when they attack Christianity.

Cupp said Christianity is a target so that mainstream media can also attack conservatism.  “If they can effectively paint Christians as dangerous fanatics, it’s just a skip away from painting conservatives as dangerous fanatics,” she said in an interview with Mediaite.

In that same report she said that her being an atheist gave her the needed objectivity to write the book.  “I would hope it gives a little more credibility to the project than having some fundamentalist Christian write about attacks on Christianity,” she said.

Christian Today noted that other studies have also documented Cupp’s viewpoints, including The Media Elite by Lichter, Rothman and Lichter (1986), and Bias by Bernard Goldberg (2001).

Bill Muehlenberg, who authored the Christian Today review wrote, “Western Christians are sleeping through their own execution.They seem oblivious [that] the surrounding culture has declared war on the Christian faith.”

In her book Cupp wrote, according to Newsweek, that:

1. Secular media has turned religious worship into a “subculture” and reacted to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s 2007 Christmas commercial by focusing on a “strategically placed” cross in the background.  (She cites The Washington Post and CNN).
2. Major media did not cover Obama’s snub of the National Day of Prayer.
3. Newsweek’s review of the Christian bestseller “Left Behind” said, “Sociologists tell us that the United States is experiencing a religious revival, but if the bestseller lists are any guide, the revival looks more like a collective leaving of the senses.”
4. Reviews of the Christian story “Narnia” were lukewarm despite its being a box office hit.  Reviews for The Golden Compass, which attacks Christianity, were positive although the movie did not do well at the tills.

Cupp also noted that the liberal press downplays Obama’s discomfort with religious America and barely wrote about his covering up of religious imagery in the backdrop when he gave a speech at Georgetown University.

The Catholic League aligned recently with several Jewish organizations against a bill which would allow the government a stronger hand on what to do with human organs after a person has died.

Catholics, Jews decry bill to ‘harvest’ human organs

The bill, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, would in effect disable the next of kin from challenging decisions of their dead or dying relatives regarding the donation of their organs, the New York Times said.

This becomes contentious when the government has the right to presume that a person is willing to donate their organs unless they specifically state “no” in official documents, most commonly their driver’s license.

Under current law, a donor must indicate permission on their driver’s licenses with two witnesses present.  Or, a donor may fill a donor card.  If the bill is passed, the government may presume the person is willing to donate body organs if the box on the driver’s license indicating “no” is left blank, the Eurasia Review noted.

It is potentially possible under this bill that a person may be dying and incapable of communicating.  If the driver’s license does not indicate otherwise, the government will presume the person’s organs are up for donation, and the next of kin would not be able to challenge this.

Brodsky’s bill is being challenged by Assemblyman Dov Hikind who has launched a campaign against it, with the support of the Rabbinical Alliance of America (with over 800 members nationwide), The National Council of Young Israel (with 146 branches nationwide) and The Catholic League, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Under Jewish tradition, people are discouraged from donating their organs except when it is urgently needed.

While Hikind expressed support for voluntary organ donation, he expressly disagrees with the government having the power of presumed consent.  If the bill is passed, New York will be the first state to implement it.

William Donohue wrote, in the Eurasia Review, “It is one thing for someone to exercise informed consent and voluntarily donate his or her organs, quite another for the state to assume it has a right to them unless stipulated otherwise. The state does not have a lien on our bodies. Indeed, to assume it does is morally obscene.

“Have we not seen enough evidence in the past one hundred years of what happens when agents of government assume a mantle of authority over the life and limbs of innocent persons? This kind of utilitarian calculus always winds up punishing the least among us while rewarding the stronger.”

New voices, including an ex-Muslim, have come to the defense of Franklin Graham recently, after the Pentagon disinvited him from appearing on the National Day of Prayer.

Franklin Graham at the podium and on the big screen at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash. in 2007. Credit:Flikr-publicjill

According to the Christian Post Sabatina James, the granddaughter of a Mullah and a well-known Pakistani convert to Christianity, said there is a difference between criticizing Islam and Muslims.

“Don’t say that every Muslim is a terrorist and every Muslim is bad because that is just not true. But there are definitely things that need to be changed in Islam or else you can’t live in a democracy,” James said.

James is living under police protection and is constantly on the move because of death threats against her.  She said, “…they are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘beat your wife if she is not obedient.’ They are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘the Christians and Jewish people are evil.’”

James added, “It is written in the Surah Al-Maidah… ‘don’t take Jewish and Christian people as your friend.’  That is what you are taught in the Quran schools.”  James said in the Christian Post story.

Meanwhile, Republican congressman from Georgia Jack Kingston called for a congressional investigation into possible “clerical censorship” involving Graham’s being disinvited to speak at the Pentagon, the Huffington Post reported.

Another publication, The Dallas News, took a poll.  Among the comments they garnered was that of Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.  Bock said, “The way to respond to Graham’s claims is not to wall off who can pray or be asked to do so, but to engage in a discussion of the issues he raises to show whether or not he is correct.”

Another respondent, Lillian Pinkus, executive committee member of the Anti-Defamation League of Dallas said, “…what bothers me is that while members of the Islamic faith are quick to take offense at perceived slights against Islam, in countries where Islam is the law of the land, there is not that same sensibility for others.  How is it that they demand fair treatment and practice of their faith, while in Islamic countries where the Koran is their constitution, there is no freedom of worship for people of other faiths?  You might say that it’s different in America, but I don’t believe there is a Koran for America and one for Islamic countries.”

Franklin Graham was disinvited by the Pentagon last week because after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Graham called Islam a “very evil and wicked religion.”

In a CNN interview Graham said, “True Islam cannot be practiced in this country. You can’t beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they’ve committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries.”

Graham said he has Muslim friends and the humanitarian group he heads, Samaritan’s Purse, works in several predominantly Muslim countries.  But he told CNN, “…I certainly disagree with their teaching.”

Human trafficking claims 100,000 girls annually in the U.S. alone. Photo credit: iStockphoto.

Human trafficking: it’s not a fictional plot device created by talented scriptwriters for Hollywood action flicks like Taken and TV dramas like 24.

It is a real, modern-day form of slavery in which individuals (women and young girls in particular) are taken hostage and forced and coerced into performing sexual acts for commercial profit, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

And it’s something more and more filmmakers are addressing.

Since September 2009, the five young directors, writers and producers behind “Sex and Money: A National Search for Human Worth” have traveled across the U.S. to investigate and expose one of the most illegal underground industries in the world.

While the group’s last television series primarily focused on human trafficking in other parts of the world, their new documentary will strictly investigate the U.S. sex slave trade.

Besides conducting research in Washington D.C., they have interviewed porn stars, former prostitutes, political leaders and authors in an effort to raise awareness and encourage social awakening.

Photojournalist Tim Dyk told Christianity Today’s Elissa Cooper that as Christians, “We need to be willing to go to these areas, be willing to have conversations about sex, about prostitution, about helping people who are coming out of prostitution, because even Jesus wants to [reach out to] prostitutes. He recognized that they are needy people just like anyone else, just like we are.”

Although producers are not marketing the documentary as a “Christian” film, many people who working on the project are outspoken believers. In conjunction with photogenX, a ministry of Youth With A Mission, they are striving to expose the hard truths about prostitution in America, including the “the sexual exploitation of children,” according to the film’s official web site.

“There are so many different ways that we can work [against trafficking],” said Dyk. “I just think a lot of this requires the church, as followers of Christ, to walk out in what he’s calling us to do, [and] it can look different for each person. I think people just need to see how the Spirit leads and see how they can use their gifts.”

You can find out more about “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth” at their official web site: www.sexandmoneyfilm.com. You can also watch trailers and webisodes on the group’s YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/sexandmoneyglobal.

The documentary is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2010 release date.

Archie Comics will introduce a new character who is openly gay, Kevin Keller.

Keller first appears in Veronica  No. 202 (release date on Sept. 1^st) as the new kid in Riverdale.

In the story, entitled “Isn’t it Bromantic?” Keller beats Jughead in an eating contest.

This makes him gain the attention of boy-crazy Veronica.

When Jughead points out her interest, Kevin’s up front about the fact that he’s gay and spends the rest of the issue introducing himself to the rest of the gang while trying to let a clueless Veronica down easy, much to Jughead’s amusement.

Cartoonist Dan Parent commented to Newsarama, “We didn’t do something with turmoil. The guy just happens to be gay, and the characters accept it, and that’s it.”

He said the comics want to reflect high schools in America, where being gay is okay for the most part.

“My daughter has openly gay kids in her high school and it’s accepted,” Parent said to Newsarama.  “Obviously this isn’t the case everywhere in the country. But gay kids in high schools isn’t the big deal it used to be.”

The character’s debut is part of Archie Comics’ overall efforts to make the comic, which has been around since 1939, more contemporary.

Historically, Riverdale had not been so diverse.  There was a malt shop, white walls, a jalopy and in general all the components which in its time created a safe world for everyone.

Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater, in an official statement, said he felt it just made sense to now have an openly gay character.  Parent said , “In the last year or two, we’ve been introducing a lot of new characters:  Diverse characters, characters with different ethnicities.”

Among the notable changes were a redesign to update the characters for modern audiences, parodies of current pop culture stories, and the introduction of an interracial relationship between Archie and Josie and the Pussycats’ character Valerie.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/newsarama/20100422/en_newsarama/archiemeetkevinriverdalesnewgaystudent

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2010/04/gay_archie_character.html

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/04/22/archie-introduces-an-openly-gay-character-kevin-keller/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/22/AR2010042205766.html

Attorneys with the Christian legal firm Alliance Defense Fund urged President Barack Obama to appeal the decision of a federal judge’s ruling that National Prayer Day is unconstitutional recently.

Before thousands of guests, including a dozen foreign leaders, President Barack Obama called for greater understanding and cooperation among people of all faiths at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, 2008.

The ADF lawyers made their plea after U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb struck down a federal statute creating the “National Day of Prayer.” According to Crabb, the statute connotes endorsement and encouragement of a particular religious exercise.

But ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster argues that the national prayer day is “America’s heritage” and “belongs to Americans.”  He added, “The National Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according to their own faith – and does not promote any particular religion or form of religious observance.”

National Prayer Day (NPD) was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.  Although it has been celebrated yearly since then, a lawsuit against NPD was filed in October 2008 by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).

The FFRF is a Madison, Wisconsin group that was founded in 1976.  They are pledged to promote separation of church and state, and to educate the public on “nontheism”.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State,  praised Judge Crabb’s ruling saying, “This decision is a tremendous victory for religious liberty.  Congress has no business telling Americans when or how to pray.”

Lynn added, “The Constitution forbids the government to meddle in religious matters. Decisions about worship should be made by individuals without direction from elected officials. That’s what freedom is all about.”

Ever since 1952, US presidents have always set an annual National Day of Prayer.  Since 1988, the presidents have always designated the first Thursday of May as the National Day of Prayer.

Last year, President Obama issued a proclamation designating the first Thursday of May as the National Day of Prayer, and prayed privately.  Despite the present ruling, Obama still intends to recognize the day this year on May 6.

Shirley Dobson, chair of the National Day of Prayer Task Force said it is imperative “now more than ever before” to pray.  Dobson has organized thousands of local prayer events throughout the country, including gatherings in Washington, D.C., with government leaders.

Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100416/ts_csm/294988;_ylt=AkZQP7YV39sLuNafx7pe2jg7Xs8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJldDE4NGhjBGFzc2V0A2NzbS8yMDEwMDQxNi8yOTQ5ODgEcG9zAzE2BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA2ZlZGVyYWxqdWRnZQ–

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100416/obama-urged-to-appeal-nat-l-prayer-day-ruling/index.html

The Interreligious Solidarity Movement for Peace appealed for harmony after the Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamic group, set off two bombs in the Philippines Tuesday, killing 14, injuring 15 and destroying a Catholic Cathedral.

The IRSMP joined forces with the civilian Peace Advocates Zamboanga and the Consortium of Bangasamoro Civic Society  in their appeal for peace.

Of the total deaths, seven were civilians, three soldiers, three Abu Sayyaf men, and one policeman.  Another bomb that was found in front of a judge’s house and near a bus terminal was detonated by the military.

Even as the military claimed recently that Isabela, the city in which the attacks took place,  is now clear of Abu Sayyaf terrorists and that life in the Philippine province of Basilan is starting to normalize, questions are being raised as to why the attack took place, and who or what is behind the bombing.

An editorial by the Philippine Daily Inquirer  quoted senior superintendent Antonio Mendoza, Basilan police chief as saying, “Based on some accounts, they were hired, forced to wear the police uniforms and were directed to implement some attacks.  And of course, there’s money involved.”

However the PDI also noted that it is possible the police chief’s sources are at least two captured Abu Sayyaf members who could lying.

Reportedly, the two mentioned prominent political personalities behind the attack, which could be a ruse to conduct terrorism by other means or could be the truth.

Political feuds are not uncommon in Basilan, including the assassination of Rep. Wahab Akbar (himself a former Abu Sayyaf member) in Quezon City which is believed to be traced to political enemies.

Another very plausible possibility was raised by Rear Adm. Alex Pama who speculated that, based on the likely operations plan the Abu Sayyaf attempted to carry out, the objective of the group may have been to replicate the 1995 Ipil raid (now Zamboanga Sibugay) which left 50 people dead, a billion pesos looted from banks and a town center in ruins.

Pama said the Isabela attack was “a major, well-planned attack that luckily went bad in their own hands.”

The Abu Sayyaf started in the 1990s.  It is well known in America as the group that kidnapped American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Upon the Burhamms’ rescue Martin was killed in the crossfire, while Gracia survived and now lives with her children in Kansas.

Sources:

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20100416-264492/Behind-the-raid

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue9496.html

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=566936&publicationSubCategoryId=200