Last evening I watched a program titled, "Omo Child", a documentary on the ancient practice of "mingi" by the Ethiopian Kara tribe. The Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa contains several tribes including the Hamer, Arbore, Dassanech and Karo (or Kara), among others.

 You may be like me, ignorant of what "mingi" may be. You may also wonder why I titled this blog, "American Mingi". Let me explain.

 The Kara people practice an ancient ritual known as "mingi". Mingi comes in three different classes; women mingi, girl mingi and teeth mingi. "Women mingi" occurs when a woman produces a child that has not received the blessing of the tribal elders. "Girl mingi" happens when a child is born before marriage. And, "teeth mingi" is manifested when a child produces upper teeth before bottom teeth. All forms of mingi is believed to bring a curse upon the tribal community and is to be dealt with by killing the mingi child. Women perform the killing by wrapping a rope around the child's neck to suffocate while dirt is stuffed into the child's mouth to prevent crying until dead. The body is then thrown into the bush to be eaten by wild animals. An alternate means of killing is drowning the child in a nearby river. The killing is believed to relieve the curse of drought, famine, and disease upon the community.

 Thousands upon thousands of children in the Kara tribe have been disposed of in this way for many, many years. The documentary follows the efforts of one educated young man in his attempt to overthrow this practice among his people. Even though he eventually persuades the tribal elders to end this practice, many other tribes still practice mingi today.

 Now, as I watched the horror of this practice played out on my television screen, I thought how barbaric, how archaic, how ignorant...and, yes, how evil this practice was. But, then I remembered the recent statistics that America, the land of the free and home of the brave, has killed 61 million children since the decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. Now, you understand the title, American Mingi.

 I did not create the idea of abortion, it was a decision made by my elders. The practice of abortion mimics the same process as mingi, the annihilation of precious innocent children to ease the conscious of fearful people. But, just like the mingi, the real curse is the killing of innocent children, future generations.

 Now, we do not kill by strangulation, suffocation or mere drowning. We are too sophisticated for that, we use technical lethal extermination, dismemberment and extraction. How barbaric, how archaic, how ignorant...and, yes, how evil.

 It is time for the young educated ones to stand up for the unborn, just as the young man in this program. A difference can be made. Just because abortion has been allowed for so many, many years, there is no reason that it must continue. It is time for our elders to repent of the decision of the past and create a new future for those that have so long been forgotten. The Kara tribe was facing a population decrease due to the vast killings being carried out. We, too, as Americans have experienced much the same decrease because of our actions. 61 million people is a lot of people, ten times the number of souls lost in the Holocaust. 

 We must awake from our sleep. I ask you to join me in standing against our American Mingi, the abortion of our fellow citizens.

 May God forgive us and may He bless this United States of America.

(Photo courtesy of Zach Vessels of Unsplash.com)