When it looked like Barack Obama was close to winning the presidency in 2008 I had many southern friends and family holler that they were going to get on a boat and sail off into the sunset for better lands if he won... When he won I was hoping to be able to wave a few people off into the ocean. To my disappointment they stuck around.
This family, however, actually kept their word.
In this news story reported by NBC News the Gastonguay family from Arizona did just that. They came to the conclusion that their tax dollars were being spent to fund abortions and they felt their ability to practice their religion was being infringed upon. So they stocked up their boat, grabbed their children and elderly father and sailed off for the tiny island nation of Kiribati.
After they got lost, drifted for weeks, encountered difficult storms and ran out of food they were picked up by a Venezuelan shipping vessel, transferred to a Japanese cargo ship, dropped off at a Chilean port and, finally, brought home by the United States. They are currently back in Arizona.
I can only hope that they try this nonsense again. And this time maybe they will actually reach their goal and we can be rid of a tiny bit of crazy.
What made this funny:
They sailed off and let God be their guide. Then they got lost. I'm sure that many religious people will assume that this was God's plan. He wanted them to be taken back to the U.S. for some random reason that will reveal itself in due time. But not before almost getting them killed in the process... The family is most likely still trying to figure out how they can follow God's unwavering guidance in the future.
What made this scary:
The family included children. Very young children. And there was little to no navigational or sailing experience between all the adults. How could someone do this to their children? They had a three year old and an infant. AN INFANT. They sailed off in the ocean in the middle of storm season with only two months worth of food. They drifted for 91 days total.
Did we learn nothing from the Swiss Family Robinson and Tom Hanks??
I will never understand why so many people complain about their taxes. Do they forget that they pay for things like emergency crews, like the coast guard and emergency funds to get citizens home...? Although, I'm sure that the family will have to pay the government back for their airfare home. Taxes give us roads, community funding, schools and so much more.
Personally, I'm annoyed that churches don't have to pay taxes. With as much money as some of the mega-churches bring in we are missing out in millions of dollars worth of funding from churches annually.
And the idea that the government is infringing on their faith? I would like to hear more of what they mean about that. As far as I can see it's the christian religion that is the one that is guiding many of the laws that people like me have been fighting against for years. It seems to me that there are many more people who are being dominated by religion than religion being stomped on by government.
But, again, before I completely ridicule these people for their reasoning I really want to hear what they have to say for themselves. I will, however completely ridicule them for actually carrying out this hair-brained idea with children. I would love to see social services take a look into the family.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/11/19969556-religious-family-fleeing-us-by-sailboat-goes-adrift-winds-up-in-chile?lite
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