I realize that this is a popular news item right now. I don't always touch on hot topics of the day, but I'm reminded of my favorite quote about history.
"Those who forget history are condemned to relive it. Those who do remember are condemned to watch everyone else relive it."
I realize that I live in Iowa and I am nowhere near the Mexican-American border. Many of you who read this will not be near that border either. We don't live in Texas, new Mexico, Arizona, or California. We aren't use to the idea that terrorists have free access to our state....because those states are a buffer between us and that reality.
So, "yes," aiding and bringing Syrian refugees into our country has the potential to bring terrorists into our country. Reality: so does our southern border!
Added note: I have been touched by the show of solidarity for France this weekend. I remember being grateful for the same shows of solidarity that America received after 09/11. I just can't help but wonder, why support France but not Syrian refugees??
I don't think it's racial, by the way. That's the easy answer, but I don't think it's the issue. There are some cultural divides that definitely play a role, but here is the real truth as I see it. We want to be able to help by proxy, but we don't want to go out into the street and have to see the people we are helping. It is very different to change a picture or post a thought as compared to having to see (or even know of) people from another world living near you...or even within your area of the country.
So, what do we do? Do we close our borders and refuse to let people in who need the help? Wait? What's that sound?? That's right, it's the sound of history ringing in our ears. This is the history that I am choosing not to forget but that I'm afraid our society has forgotten and I may be condemned to watch them repeat it.
1930's. It was a dangerous and tumultuous time. Adolf Hitler has gained power. He has already hit religion by the imprisonment or exile of over 1,000 church leaders and influential laymen. But now he focuses on the Jewish question. He hasn't been forcing them into ghettos yet, but yet he is persecuting them. Jews are being run out of business and run out of their homes. So, where do these refugees go? Do they flee to other European countries? Wait. What about America? This is a land of opportunity and surely they would protect and support the persecuted Jews of Germany.
Well, the reality was different. Most European countries all but closed their doors and America wasn't much better. I haven't fact checked this so take it on my memory, but I believe it was our secretary of state at the time who was an anti-Semite and who pushed to have as many visas of Jews denied as possible. Why? Well, they were a burden on our society? What if spies came in amongst them? We don't know their culture and they are just different.
The reasons, I am sure, were more than that and probably many were deeper and seemed good at the time. Yet, the result was the same: Jews that would have fled Germany were denied the ability to while there was time and instead found themselves in concentration camps later in the war.
Human beings in need. That's who the majority of these refugees are. They are human beings in need. For how much I see posts on Facebook about helping people, why are we so scared to help the ones that might come to us? Maybe there is a terrorist in midst. Maybe 20. I mean, it only took 17 (or 19??) to pull off the attacks on 9/11, right? That's true. But what kind of world do we live in and what kind of Christians are we when we shut people out for fear of the unknown??
To God be the glory.
"Those who forget history are condemned to relive it. Those who do remember are condemned to watch everyone else relive it."
I realize that I live in Iowa and I am nowhere near the Mexican-American border. Many of you who read this will not be near that border either. We don't live in Texas, new Mexico, Arizona, or California. We aren't use to the idea that terrorists have free access to our state....because those states are a buffer between us and that reality.
So, "yes," aiding and bringing Syrian refugees into our country has the potential to bring terrorists into our country. Reality: so does our southern border!
Added note: I have been touched by the show of solidarity for France this weekend. I remember being grateful for the same shows of solidarity that America received after 09/11. I just can't help but wonder, why support France but not Syrian refugees??
I don't think it's racial, by the way. That's the easy answer, but I don't think it's the issue. There are some cultural divides that definitely play a role, but here is the real truth as I see it. We want to be able to help by proxy, but we don't want to go out into the street and have to see the people we are helping. It is very different to change a picture or post a thought as compared to having to see (or even know of) people from another world living near you...or even within your area of the country.
So, what do we do? Do we close our borders and refuse to let people in who need the help? Wait? What's that sound?? That's right, it's the sound of history ringing in our ears. This is the history that I am choosing not to forget but that I'm afraid our society has forgotten and I may be condemned to watch them repeat it.
1930's. It was a dangerous and tumultuous time. Adolf Hitler has gained power. He has already hit religion by the imprisonment or exile of over 1,000 church leaders and influential laymen. But now he focuses on the Jewish question. He hasn't been forcing them into ghettos yet, but yet he is persecuting them. Jews are being run out of business and run out of their homes. So, where do these refugees go? Do they flee to other European countries? Wait. What about America? This is a land of opportunity and surely they would protect and support the persecuted Jews of Germany.
Well, the reality was different. Most European countries all but closed their doors and America wasn't much better. I haven't fact checked this so take it on my memory, but I believe it was our secretary of state at the time who was an anti-Semite and who pushed to have as many visas of Jews denied as possible. Why? Well, they were a burden on our society? What if spies came in amongst them? We don't know their culture and they are just different.
The reasons, I am sure, were more than that and probably many were deeper and seemed good at the time. Yet, the result was the same: Jews that would have fled Germany were denied the ability to while there was time and instead found themselves in concentration camps later in the war.
Human beings in need. That's who the majority of these refugees are. They are human beings in need. For how much I see posts on Facebook about helping people, why are we so scared to help the ones that might come to us? Maybe there is a terrorist in midst. Maybe 20. I mean, it only took 17 (or 19??) to pull off the attacks on 9/11, right? That's true. But what kind of world do we live in and what kind of Christians are we when we shut people out for fear of the unknown??
To God be the glory.
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