…if this were my country, I wouldn’t be giving too much thought to Madonna’s new adoption hobby.
67 human rights groups think that rich pop stars shouldn’t get to rewrite a country’s laws just because of their celebrity. And a judge agrees. And I agree, too.
Plus, I’m tired of this dumb argument that so-and-so ought to be paying more attention to X than to Y, because I think Y is less important. People are fully capable of doing more than one thing at a time, so human rights advocates can be active in opposing unequal application of laws and promoting education and welfare.
I point out that everyone here on the Dope is vulnerable to the same idiotic criticism: one could say that we all ought to be doing more to raise our own children better (or some other worthy cause) rather than wasting time on a message board. People here are fully capable of posting on the Dope and raising good children; people in Malawi are fully capable of fighting the spread of AIDS and opposing Madonna’s illegal adoption.
I think that Madonna was trying to do a good thing (even if it does seem to be mostly publicity based) but she picked the wrong country. If she wants to adopt an African orphan she could go to a number of other countries in Africa and adopt a child from there. She didn’t have to break the laws of the nation she was in to adopt a child since there are hundreds of thousands of children all over the world who need a good home that would be more than happy to come and live with Madonna.
Great post, Ravenman! My sentiments exactly. I am not sure if it has been determined that Madonna broke or bent any rules in adopting this child, but I certainly think that it is worth investigating. And it IS the purpose of human rights groups to look into this kind of thing.
And pbbth, I have no doubt that Madonna’s intentions were good ones, but I’m not sure why it matters which country she picked. Lots of countries have children who need adoption, and I’m sure all the countries have laws regarding how those adoptions are supposed to proceed. Whichever child & whichever country is involved, those laws should be respected.
That is kind of what I was trying to say. If she wants to adopt a child she can find a child somewhere that has laws that work better for her and the adoption process rather than forcing her way through the laws of this particular country.
Oh, I see what you were saying. The thing is, it seems (if the stories are correct) as if what she didn’t want to do is wait very long, and I doubt there is any country where you can adopt a child and take him away within a week…these international adoptions typically seem to drag on.
You make a good point here. Touche. (can’t be bothered to put in the diacritical)
However, I do still have a medium-sized :dubious: over how quickly these groups seem to have mobilized in response to what is honestly a very minor threat to the integrity of their country. I understand that people and organizations can multitask, but to get up in arms over this, in the face of some of the other problems facing their country, seems to me like meticulously cleaning the gutters on your house while your house is on fire (apologies to Moby).