Mingi

Recently this article appeared in Christianity Today. To summarize, it tells the story of countless children who are being sacrificed in Ethiopia because the locals believe they are cursed. The curse is called "mingi," and it can be pronounced on a child for something as trivial as the top teeth coming in before the bottom teeth. The villagers, even the parents themselves, believe that what they are doing is right - that somehow killing the child is sparing the village from drought or disease.

The Benkerts are cited in the article, and Christina had an opportunity to meet them here in Austin a few weeks ago. They were intervening on behalf of these children, getting them adopted into loving families in order to save their lives. Sadly, as the article states, they had to pull out because they believed the orphanage director was embezzling. They are now caring for orphans in Addis.

There's a lot I could say about this article. It immediately causes outrage when you read it. The thing that came to mind though was how it parallels the slaughter of children in our own country. Every day, there are over 3,000 abortions in this country. Like the parents of these mingi children in Ethiopia, many of the parents here think they are doing the right thing. Taking the life of this child will allow them to go to college or have that job they want. It is a "distasteful" thing to have to do, but ultimately it's better than having another child and mother on the welfare rolls, right?

My point here is that as Christians, we do not hold a utilitarian ethic. That is, we don't do what is good for the most people. No, we use the Bible as our inerrant standard of what is right and wrong. And killing is wrong - no matter how inconvenient the pregnancy (in the US) and no matter if the child is cursed because their top teeth came in first (Ethiopia). So, why are we not just as outraged at what is happening in our country? I pray that the Gospel will transform both societies to see the value of children made in God's image - both born and unborn.