the looks on my students' faces

A Korean hostage has apparently been killed, but the hostage crisis still gets no mention on sites like Drudge Report (at least as of this writing).

Some of my students are upset by what's happening in Afghanistan. Can't say I blame them: some of these girls might themselves have been contemplating mission work; others might have close or distant connections with the hostages and/or the relevant religious/aid organizations.

I find it hard to maintain a cynical sneer in the face of the hurt this is causing my girls. Sure, we might say that this is, to a large extent, a self-inflicted wound: it was stupid to head blithely into such danger. But we should remember, too, that the Taliban should be held accountable for their actions. They are not animals: they are people who know what they're doing, and as such, they are accountable for whatever bloodshed they commit.

The current misery is the result of a confluence of factors: the naiveté or arrogance of certain Korean organizations, the relative weakness of the US-supported Afghan government, and the religious fervor of the Taliban, to name a few. Placing all blame entirely on the missionaries (if that's what they are) is unfair and uncalled for.

In my Level 1 writing class, one student, a devout Christian, wrote that she was praying for the safety of the hostages. She wrote this before we heard about the first killing. Personally, I'm not hopeful that God will intervene; I have grave doubts about the physical efficacy of prayer. If the Taliban decide that enough is enough, Korea will soon be reading about its first platoon of latter-day martyrs.

I hope it doesn't come to that.


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