Plague of crimes

The plague of crimes against children has to stop. My heart grieves for The Groene family and other families who had to suffer similiar tragedies.

This morning on the way to work, I heard a broadcasts on the children of Northern Uganda on NPR and I had to pull over. It broke my heart.

Children as young as eight years old are kidnapped, tortured, raped, enslaved, forced to inflict violence on others and sometimes killed by the rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) since 1988. The child soldiers are more obedient, easier to manipulate, require little food, expendable and do not question orders than the adult solders. A whole generation of children -- lost.

The children "night commuters", to escape abduction from the LRA, have to leave their homes at dusk and travel to distant towns for safety with little food and only a blanket.

Child soldiers are being used in more than thirty countries around the world.

Thousands of children abducted by rebel forces witnessed and participated in horrible atrocities against civilians, including beheadings, amputations, rape, and burning people alive.

Children forced to take part in atrocities were often given drugs to overcome their fear or reluctance to fight.

"..God, come down
If you're really there
Well, you're the one who claims to care..."