The evil empire and the good Christian from South Carolina

This is a story I heard today, 9/11/08, on NPR. Phillip Miles, a South Carolina pastor, was detained in Russia in February for bringing hunting bullets into the country, which, apparently is against Russian law. Although he is now free, Pastor Miles is on the air, and everywhere else, recounting his tale of unfair incarceration. He seems to think that US officials would greet with open arms a Russian (or any other foreign national) who entered the United States with live ammunition packed away in his luggage and a story about how these bullets were gifts for a friend.

Let's start at the top. The barely literate, poorly trained TA guards at our security points routinely pull out of line for special scrutiny women wearing unwire bras and men with knee transplants (and the documentation and scars to prove they've had knee surgery). However, the same brain trust allowed Pastor Miles to pack live ammunition in his luggage as long as it wasn't carry on. These are the same people who told me I could get back into the US from Mexico with the three wrapped and sealed bottles of Mexican hot sauce only to have said hot sauce confiscated by US officials who then disposed of them. And while doing this, they said, "The law in the US says you cannot pack these items in carry on." Too bad the people at the other end were ignorant of the US law, just as the people at the start of Pastor Miles flight seemed ignorant of Russian law.

It gets worse, because the charge was then upped to smuggling, which really got Pastor Miles' goat because, he maintained, this was a box of ammunition that could be purchased anywhere in the US--except he was bringing the bullets into Russia where the law is different. Pastor Miles was particularly incensed that no one spoke English, although he had visited Russia for a decade and did not speak Russian. Even after his six month incarceration, Miles did not have enough Russian to understand when his name was called during the trial.

Pastor Miles was shocked--and appalled--by his tiny, overcrowded cell, by the demand that he hand wash his own clothes (and the requirement that he dip each piece 10 times in the soapy, which he seemed to find onerous), and by the fact that his cell mates watched TV at all hours (and once had the never to watch some porn). Obviously, Pastor Miles has never visited, much less been incarcerated, in a US jail, so he may be excused for his belief that jails here are spacious and spotless. He was also surprised that unlike US justice, he was jailed for six months awaiting a full trial. Ahh, these novices.

It's unfortunate that Pastor Miles did not realize that brining live ammunition to another country is illegal. But it is and can you imagine how much hell there would be to pay if some foreign national brought a box of bullets into the US? Not that they would have to because, as Pastor Miles noted, you can buy bullets here in the US with little problem. "But sir, these bullets are for my friend who lives in Chicago, where bullet sales are restricted."

Pastor Miles, like so many Americans, somehow believes that the US Bill of Rights follows him wherever he goes--and worse, that as a Christian American, he is entitled to special treatment. "Yes, of course, I broke the law, but I am an American, and a Christian American, surely the law does not apply to me."

He did draw a three-year sentence but only served six months and, I suspect, will not be a welcomed guest in Russia for some time. Meanwhile, he is telling his tale of unfair incarceration (had he spoken the language, Miles could have figure out at one point that the whole matter would have been resolved with a bribe) without realizing that other countries have laws and customs (and languages) that we have to follow even if we are good Christian Americans and this has nothing to do with the left overs of Godless Communism but has a great deal to with American arrogance and the misguided belief that our laws apply everywhere.