Protecting children
Dear Editor:
Dec. 28 is the Feast of the Holy Innocents – a day that reminds us of the victims of King Herod’s murderous paranoia in killing all male infants under the age of two who lived in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. It is a day to remember that children are frequently the innocent victims of adult conflicts like wars and other forms of violence.
As we start the new year, we look back at 2023 and remember the children who died at the hands of murderous adults. We weep for children killed in Ukraine, at the hands of Hamas, in Gaza, in Sudan, in Yemen, in school shootings, and on the list goes. We weep for the children who die of malnutrition and inadequate medical care, which result from adult greed and unwillingness to share.
Dr. Cindy Blackstock, an Officer of the Order of Canada, says it is a basic human right and responsibility that adults care for and protect children, be those children we are related to or not.
Maybe a new year’s resolution could be that we who are adults would care for and protect children in 2024. May this day of remembering the holy innocents become fuel to our becoming agents of care and protection for children.
Peter Bush, Fergus
