We all rip families apart

In the current US political climate of June 2018, the US administration is under criticism for separating parents & children of illegal immigrants at the border. The political debate brought in comparisons with prior administrations and differing interpretations of the same data. Other debates included policies on US citizens and legal immigrations.

We all think of ourselves as good compassionate people who wouldn't rip apart families. But what if the truth is, we are all responsible for ripping families apart.

If we are silent witnesses to injustice, it is a crime itself. When faced with hypocrisy, it is also a duty to point out the hypocrisy.

I've witnessed the incompetence of law enforcement and the criminal justice system when unnecessarily criminalizing people with mental health issues, even in open and shut cases. Families of US citizens & legal residents have been ripped apart. The criminal justice system is also exceedingly harsh for even minor non-violent crimes. This rips families apart when putting people behind bars. Somehow, we have failed to express compassion towards this section of society. Criminal justice reform is the solution.

Have you witnessed any nasty divorces? I have. Unscrupulous lawyers have developed a modus-operandi. Have the woman first file a restraining order. Disappear suddenly with the child, surprising the spouse. It becomes an uphill battle for the father to even get the order lifted & even see the child. Lawyers & accountants make money while the father has to fight to have the child for increased hours. There is no accountability for perjury, which is made when filing the restraining order & the divorce petition. In India, the draconian 498a & the default of giving full custody to the woman has resulted in multiple fathers committing suicide. Some soldiers who had faced & survived enemy bullets have ended their life at being unable to even see their child. We have failed to show any compassion when these families are being ripped apart. Divorce system reform & the repeal of 498a in India is the solution.

We may argue that we are not directly complicit because of silence or lack of awareness. But what if I said that we are directly complicity as well?

We all consume milk products. These are mostly from cows and sometimes from goats and in India, water buffaloes. Milk comes from mammals. Mammals need to give birth to product milk for its offspring. What happens to the little babies of these animals? If they drink the milk, the businesses will have less milk to sell, won't they? So, the babies are taken away immediately after birth. The mother never sees her babies again.

In other animal factory farms, this cycle continues. Pigs have their babies taken away, killed if they don't grow fast enough. If they do grow well, they are moved to another crate where they can't move for their entire life.

The mother hen never sees her chicks in the egg industry. Male chicks are ground up by the egg industry; they don't lay eggs, so they're useless.

We are all complicit in ripping the families of these animals apart. We pay businesses to do this for us. Gandhi said that the weaker the creature, the greater it deserves our voice. The solution is the end of intensive animal factory farming.

We now experienced compassion. Can we extend our compassion towards our those who are weaker & even less fortunate? Or will we perform mental gymnastics and be hypocritical?

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu. Om Shanthi.