Fascinating Article
There is obviously quite a bit of irresponsibility represented in this article, yet at the same time, I can’t help but admire someone who is willing to act on his moral conscience. Make sure to read the exerpts from Hassan’s article in the right hand column.
January 5th, 2006 at 10:35 am
What a story! Ditto on the admiration. The comments by readers on the bottom were entertaining…restitution?…not so sure about that…I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a High Schooler will never enter it!!?!?!…I guess there is a first time for everything!
Camarillo OUT.
January 5th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
I also admire his willingness and reckless abandon. I think his heart was in the right place. His head may have needed a re-cap, but his gut said… “Someone needs to do something about this”, and he was willing! It makes it a bit more clear why so many of the great leaders in the Bible were called as youth. There is a sense of “I can do anything and it’ll all be good” in us when we are that age. When that spirit is directed… God can use it in a mighty way!!
What if this kid had felt confident in sharing his plan with a trusted adult? How could the trip have been different? Taking the time to listen and be there for those looking up to us may have extreme outcomes when we really listen. It is, many times, easy to just nod our heads and think about what we need to do next when someone is talking to us. I know I am guilty. What if we really listened and acted on what we heard?
This article’s story makes me think I have some listening and time-investment to do with the youth in my own reach.
January 7th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
I have absolutely no sympathy for this kid. And he should count his lucky stars he isn’t my son!
What is a 16 year old kid doing in possesion of his own passport? We are world travelers and have never left important docs in the care of irresposible immature teens.What is he doing with a large bank account? Did he work for that money? No,mom said they make deposits into his account for his expenses. So…….he is so concerned about the less fortunate( as we should all be) take his rear end out of the fancy prep school and let him do volunteer work in an inner city school after attending public school all day.
I have no patience with the statements of his acting on his convictions. No……this kid acted on his own selfish desires doing exactly what his little spoiled self wanted to do, when he wanted to do it.He acted out of reckless abandonment for his own safety,the safety of those protecting him including the US Embassy and 101st Airborne personnel and disrespect and reblellion to his mothers promise to take him to Iraq when the country was more stable and secure.He also disrespected the advisories of the US State Dept. in regards to travel to that area.
I agree …….he should go back to Iraq to see how the “real” people live bypassing the five star luxury hotel where he stayed. Let this kid get a heavy dose of reality and learn real quick what teens in Iraq are going through on a daily basis.
He…not his parents………need to make restitution for all expenses incurred for his safe return to the US. He also needs to suffer some pretty stiff consequences regarding his behavior and choices.
First to go should be his fancy car………if he is so concerned about Iraq let him walk places and save his money that he spends on his fancy jag and send it to a reputable charity assisting Iraq children.
Second….get his rear out of his fancy prep school that caters to spoiled kids with idealistic tendencies.
Third……….take his passport from him for a determined amount of time…………(my kids wouldn’t get his passport back until he was 21)
Fourth…….He wants a taste of reality………take his pampered rear end to the inner cities and let him get his hands dirty and do some “real ” volunteer work.
Fifth……he needs to apologize publicly and to each of the survivors of the 2,000 soldiers who lost their lives for Iraq…..his statemet regarding”not enough who are willing to help” was cruel and irresponsible.Tell that statement to a young widow with small children to raise alone or to a mother or father who cries themselves to sleep every night because their soldier child is not coming home.
Sixth………he is getting far too much publicity for his dangerous rebellous selfish irresponsible behavior. He has had his 15 minutes of fame at the expense of the US 101st Airborne now let him go quietly into the night to suffer consequences from his parents and the US State Dept.
As I said..he should be glad he is not my son!
Jan
January 10th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
I completely agree with Jan. Having served in the military myself, I have the utmost respect for the men and women risking their lives for the sake of democracy for the people of Iraq. For this selfish young man not to acknowledge the heavy price that our military has already paid in terms of loss of life to that end, is an insult. He does not even acknowledge the escort of the 101st Airborne or even thank them for getting him home safely. Clearly this young man has far too many priveledges and not enough responsibility. Hopefully this has been a learning experience for him, and while he is grounded for a very long time (with any luck) can spend many hours discussing the seriousness of his lack of judgement.
January 11th, 2006 at 10:24 am
That’s what I love about Pathways – diversity of thought, yet we all still like each other.
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Personally, this story touched me on a personal level. Yes, he is foolish. Yes, he put people at risk. Yes, he is clueless to what he has done. But there is something about acting on your passions that I have to appreciate. Our world is filled with people who love to share their thoughts and opinions and there seems to be few who passionately do something about them. This kid might not be the best example of that, but that is what hit me when I read the article.
For other better examples of this see Shane Claiborne of The Simple Way. http://www.thesimpleway.org
His story inspires me and yet shames me.