Truth Matters Part2

TRUTH MATTERS EVEN IN MOVIES PART 2

Now we have the Sound of Freedom blockbuster movie in the theaters. Being a former police officer and following the scriptures that tell me to test everything before I believe something (1 Thess. 5:21), and knowing how Hollywood often twists things, adds extras to films to make them more sensational/larger than life, and aimed at pulling at our heartstrings, I was skeptical.

This “Christian” film, which tackles a true, horrendous, and one of the most vile subjects imaginable and brings it to light, is admirable. However, after investigating the main character, his background, history, and information on child abduction and how it is portrayed in the movie I think they should have stated, “loosely based on a true story.”

As I mentioned, being a former cop, from the beginning I noticed things that were too hard to believe from a legal and cultural standpoint.  Again I stress, before you believe anything, test it, check out what is being presented against what is being said and then make an evaluation. 

As important as the subject of child sex trafficking is, it is imperative that the total truth be told. Anything less is damaging not only to the hearer but to the children being abused and could affect the process of rescuing the children, prosecution of the offenders, and could even affect the ability of people to know how to ID a possible offender.

The following is why I do not recommend this movie and feel the portrayal of it as true, it should not be supported, and the rave reviews are unfounded. 

• It bends the truth and invents plots that lead people to believe they are true.

In the opening it shows dark figures luring and kidnapping numerous children off the street as if this is a common thing. In reality it is not like that.  Statistics show most victims of trafficking aren’t attacked and taken by total strangers.  Instead, they are usually groomed over a period of time by someone they know, whether that is a family member, friend, or partner. The most prevalent kind of trafficking is low-keyed and under the radar. The movie leads people to believe that to protect their children they should be on the lookout for strangers when in reality people they know, family members, and even close friends are the ones they should be wary of. Trafficked victims usually know their abductors. 

The movie seriously misrepresents who the victims of trafficking tend to be. 

• It shows most of the children trafficked are very young children who are sold into the sex trade but that’s not exactly true to life. In reality, victims of trafficking are just as likely to be sold as laborers (depending on the circumstances), which is why people of all genders and ages can be trafficked. Most minors who are trafficked are adolescents or teenagers, with the majority falling between the ages of 15 and 17. They often come from underrepresented communities, and many of them are LGBTQ and find themselves taken in by traffickers after being kicked out of their homes. A minority of trafficking victims are young children, and the sad truth is that of those victims, their parents are often complicit in their trafficking. Some statistics show; 43% of human trafficking victims are in forced labor. 13% of human trafficking victims are being exploited in the commercial sex trade. 44% of human trafficking victims are in forced marriage.
• Globally, an estimated 71% of enslaved people are women and girls, while men and boys account for 29%.
• Children account for half of the victims of human trafficking. In fact, the average age that a young person becomes involved in sex trafficking is 12 years old.

• According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the greatest numbers of traffickers stem from Asia, Central Europe, Southeastern Europe and Western Europe.

What every parent needs to know;

Child sex abuse is common; 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused.

90% of perpetrators are known to the child.

78% of sex abuse happens in the home.

70% of rapes happen against children.

36% of perpetrators are from the family.

Only 7% of perpetrators are strangers.

#SOKIDSSTAYKIDS

Note; statistics vary depending on the organization supplying the information. No matter what the percentages are and how they vary, any child or person subjected to this type of abuse is intolerable. Just a few of the reasons I find this movie objectionable and that it presents a false case to solicit financing are listed below. If an organization or person is trying to obtain financial support from me (or you!) – truth matters! 

• The movie basically uses children to enhance the deeply emotional subject matter to subtly encourage viewers to become enraged and to financially support this organization in their quest. I find this offensive. Especially since the film does not give a clear picture of the truth (additional info to follow concerning untruthfulness) 
• Erin Albright, who worked as a fellow for the Department of Justice’s anti-trafficking task force, is quoted in  Rolling Stone. Albright said the misrepresentation is especially galling because “What [audiences] are learning [from the film] is so divorced from reality that it does sling back to create harm.”
• In the film, Ballard first meets Miguel while arresting Earl Buchanan, and the young boy gives Ballard a necklace from his sister Rocío and begs Ballard to try and find his sister. Sadly almost every detail of Miguel’s story was completely fabricated for the movie. Everything from Miguel’s “kidnapping” to his connection with Ballard was entirely different in real life.
• Miguel’s sister, in real life, was never trafficked herself. The same watchdog, American Crime Journal, exposed inconsistencies within Ballard’s story including getting a necklace from a trafficked child.
• Ballard’s charge into the jungle is pretty compelling. It’s also entirely made up. In real life, Ballard never made a solo plunge into a dangerous jungle to save a child trafficking victim.
• In 2020 Vice published an investigation of Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). That reporting found the organization has a long history of obfuscating the work that it does and has occasionally made claims that are outright false.
• Ballard has repeatedly told stories about OUR rescuing a child trafficking victim called Liliana. According to Ballard, Liliana was kidnapped as a young teenager and sold into the sex trade. He has used her story to argue that there needs to be a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. However, when Vice investigated, it found that Liliana had actually known her trafficker. As is common in these cases, he was her boyfriend at the time. Even more shocking, OUR didn’t rescue Liliana — she rescued herself by escaping her trafficker when she was 17 years old.
• TRUTH matters most importantly in a “based on a true story and a Christian-based movie” and this movie falls short of truth and leads one to a lot of misconceptions.

Currently Ballard left his post as CEO of the Glenn Beck-backed Nazarene Fund after announcing a new plan, and also recently parted ways with Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), the organization he founded and which was the basis for the wildly successful movie. He stepped down to start a new foundation called the Spear Fund, which a source close to Ballard described as coalition of anti-trafficking groups that will help coordinate efforts. Ballard is expected to release details about the project soon.

The Nazarene Fund issued a statement after Ballard’s departure, saying it remains committed to its cause. “Tim Ballard is no longer the CEO of the Nazarene Fund,” the organization said. “The Nazarene Fund continues to be focused on our mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Restore.

Note; Information in this article taken from a variety of sources including https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-ballard-who-inspired-sound-of-freedom-out-at-both-organizations-he-led?inf_contact_key=c9976be4fd215eae76c81e09b14986d8d18a532c4142cb79caf2b269de1401fa  and

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epvbyz/trafficking-survivors-and-advocates-are-being-harassed-by-sound-of-freedom-fans Quote; “The film has awakened the passions of a broad swath of the right-wing and conspiratorial world. Religious influencers, QAnon fans, and a huge group of people who defy easy categorization have all thrown their support behind the movie. And while fans of the film have insisted that it’s “raising awareness” of a global problem, experts in trafficking, including people who have experienced it themselves, are finding that it’s contributing to serious and harmful misinformation about what trafficking looks like and what survivors need to recover.”

This quote above is just one of the reasons I do not like movies like this and do not recommend them. They add to chaos, lead people to believe things that are not true, cause harm to people that are actually doing the work, and are usually exploiting a cause for financial gain.