My Brother and my Enemy

The more I read words written by johns (customers of prostitutes and trafficked people), the more I am dissuaded from my initial irate anger toward them. These are not evil men; these are men caught in a trap. They have been caught in a variety of different traps, some of shattered self-esteem, some of betrayal, some of broken homes and emotions, some of unfulfillment. And by their actions they are creating traps for these young women, by creating a market for their owners to sell them repeatedly. Even the owners and pimps can be caught in their own kind of trap. I am becoming ever more convinced that not a single one of these human beings are evil. They are each imago dei, no different than I, that have fallen into traps of lonliness and desperation, and the evil one is using them to his own advantage, to further his personal cause of death and despair. I see him, jumping and dancing and clapping his hands in glee at all the destruction he has caused and that continues to perpetuate itself. He laughs at those who continue to make decisions that serve his purpose. He is the ultimate trafficker, forcing, frauding, and coercing us away from our true home with our Father with false promises of a better life. I am reminded of the verse in Ephesians 6: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The truth of this verse makes itself more apparent with every day. As I continue my journey in this fight against human trafficking, may I never forget that those whom I fight are not my enemies, but my brothers.