A good friend comments on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway

Here is an excerpt from a good friend of mine, "Cheyenne Cin", who runs a list called "pretribbersonly" on Yahoo! Groups:

My comments about the pretty blonde 18 year old young woman who went to Aruba, only to end up probably (gang?) raped and then murdered. I don't know if she were out on her own, but my guess is that she was still in high school or just graduated, and was still living at home with her parents. Here are some of my thoughts about trips to foreign countries or beach settings in these circumstances. If she had never been on her own and if she didn't earn the money to go on this trip by herself- those two things are a separate issue. Young women are the objects of lust for young men who are around them and see them alone, especially in the undressed state of wearing swimsuits, etc.... and in a place like Aruba, it's a vacation atmosphere. Even the most sensible ones staying in hotel rooms are not always going to have others around them every minute. The students in high school are not taught to be mature or apprehensive and add to the sexuality the element of trust. No 18 year old attractive teenager from the USA is ever going to think that men are capable of rape and/or murder. They don't realize what foreign men think of women and/or Americans, especially tourists. What it simply boils down to is that NO AMOUNT of chaperones are going to be able to control or protect the group of students on these trips. Trips to beach resorts in foreign countries just won't work. Again, if she were out on her own or earned all of the money for this trip herself, even with all of the precautions and instructions in the world, this could ultimately be the tragic result, but unavoidable. If she were still living at home and didn't earn this money herself, then there are others to blame. Of course, the man or men who did this to her, leaving her parents with a life of grief ahead, should be immediately put to death, and are the ones ultimately responsible. It is just not worth the dangers or results to be taking these minors on these trips, period! Even the young men and boys are not capable of doing this with or without supervision. Mixed groups are far worse, and the hassles of trying to separate the two sexes is beyond anyone's capacity. Just GIVE IT ALL UP, I say!--"Cheyenne Cin"

She goes on to say that if the Aruba officials do not execute the man or men who did this to Natalee--assuming that the early AP reports are true and Natalee was indeed murdered--then the USA would have the right to make sure of their execution for them. She does not elaborate.

And now here are my thoughts. Full disclosure compels me to add that most parents who send their children to the school that my church keeps might have considerably higher priorities for their money than sending their graduating children to Aruba for a vacation. Many of these children will enroll at Bob Jones University or Northland Baptist Bible College or some such place, and then drive their children back and forth every year, every Christmas season, etc. Aruba, and the flights too and back from it, would represent the height of worldly extravagance. (Think how many Bibles you could load onto a small, stripped-down plane and fly into Afghanistan for the amount of cash required to send one person to Aruba and bring her back, even if she doesn't meet with foul play.)

Worse yet, it offers gambling--in which Natalee took part--and provides opportunity for the sort of free-wheeling romance depicted in a novel--later a motion picture--titled How Stella Got Her Groove Back. And wherever any of those children went, they would not go anywhere without their chaperons--and certainly not with strange men, and I don't care if one of them is the son of a ranking official in the Aruba Ministry of Justice! Sometimes, in fact, the sons of attorneys general are the most likely to break the law in this area--because they think Daddy can "fix" it, and Daddy might even have given that impression.

Bottom line: Natalee Holloway showed bad judgment even in going to Aruba, much less getting involved with three strange men in a sexually charged atmosphere and setting. Her parents showed equally poor judgment in sending her there with their money. And while poor judgment by the victim never excuses crime, sin has consequences. Sin, after all, is a shot wide of the mark of how God intended us to live. Natalee missed the mark big-time--and, again if the initial reports are correct, that miss cost her her life and possibly her eternal soul with it. (That might sound harsh, but the road to God is paved with a saving faith in His Shed Blood and not by any good intentions or works. While Natalee might have been saved, and just not sufficiently convicted in matters involving gambling and going out "stepping" with strange men, I have zero evidence that such is the case. Sorry to be blunt, but that's God's call, not mine. See Ephesians 2:8-10.)