While I can be very critical of the actions of our current president, in this instance I happen to side with him. Not that I am condoning his childish responses on Twitter concerning the matter; however, I can understand where he is coming from. Truth be told, I would hope that Mr. Trump did not make the effort to free the young men from the Chinese prison just for praise, but out of truly being concerned for their well being as U.S.Citizens.

I have traveled outside of the U.S. on multiple occasions throughout the years and I am always mindful to do a little bit of research about the customs and cultures of where I'm about to travel. I do this because the last thing that I would want to happen on my trip is to do something that is considered offensive or against that country's laws. The last I checked, stealing is wrong regardless of where you travel and shoplifting is a form of stealing. I don't care how valuable or valueless the article(s) may be, stealing is wrong and illegal no matter what country you are in. At the end of the day, those boys had absolutely no business whatsoever of even attempting to take anything without paying for it whether they were in the U.S. or abroad. Ironically, I was just in China in July.

One would think history would have deterred those young men from even attempting to do anything out of line in a foreign country. Clearly, the names Michael Fay or Otto Warmbier meant nothing to LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley because if they did, I doubt very seriously if they would have committed their act. The fact that we do not know our history, pay attention to, or learn from it is a topic for another blog post so let me not digress. Back to Elder Ball saying "Thank You." In Luke 17:11-19 we read the story of how Jesus heals ten lepers and only one of them came back after he was healed to give thanks. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Now unlike Trump, Jesus did not go on a rant or throw a Twitter fit; however, he did ask about the other nine. If you were to read the story, you would see that all ten asked to be healed in loud voices and yet only one said thank you when their request was answered in their favor.

This is the problem I have with Mr. Ball not saying thank you to the president for whatever role he played in getting the boys out of that Chinese prison and back home. Whether it was a phone call, a text, a tweet or just the relationship that Trump has with the president of China if it played a part in getting those boys home than a thank you was indeed in order. The bottom line is, those boys could have still been sitting in that Chinese prison. In the Michael Fay case then-president, Bill Clinton was able to get the Singaporean government to lower Fay's penalty to four lashes from six; the caning was administered on May 5, 1994. Otto Warmbier passed away shrouded in mystery shortly after his return to the U.S. from North Korea.

Think about it, is vandalizing property in Singapore, attempted theft of a poster from a hotel in North Korea, and taking items from three stores in China without paying for them worth the price these individuals had to pay? They all acted abroad as if they were on U.S. soil and did not expect the swift and harsh consequences. Presidents had to step in to get them back, so yes Mr. Ball a thank you was in order and no it ought not to be predicated on flying on Air Force One. Your son, as well as those other two boys, could still be sitting in that prison in China. There’s a Chinese expression, “Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.” Other countries do not tolerate or take the posture that we take in the U.S. of being innocent until proven guilty. So the fact that the boys were able to come home is certainly worthy of a thank you. How big of a deal is it to say "Thank You?"