Prologue : sorting some thoughts here. As always, I like to share them. Maybe someone could bring some clarity. Maybe not.
For the past week my mind has been reeling with thoughts on the current situations in Paris, Beirut and all the places that have been terrorized by ISIS. This is my attempt to start to sort them out and find some sort of clarity. Odds are likely that I'll just confuse you or you'll look at me like I'm some kind of freak. Which is fine. Cause I probably am.
I'll start by saying I don't watch the news. I don't read a lot of news articles. I read some commentary on Facebook. So I'm no expert.
Here's what's on my mind. There are people seeking asylum from Syria. Refugees. People that as far as I know are tired, hungry, beaten, weak and vulnerable. People that are sick and tired of living in a state of fear and are willing to risk their lives to get to place of safety. It's a last ditch attempt instead of giving up and dying, even though they may die in the process. But to them, it's worth the risk. Because the alternative is certain death.
A week ago Paris was rocked with a terrorist attack. It goes without saying that many families lives have changed forever. Loved ones lost. The feeling of safety and security has gone. On top of that many are saying it's because they allowed in 10,000 refugees and members of isis came in with them. But just a few days later France says...bring on 30,000 more! Wow. What a tremendous display of courage! And I here people condemning france and calling them idiots. What timidity those naysayers have.
I am happy that Pennsylvania has left it's doors open to those seeking asylum. Lots of other states, shame on you. Do you even remember how you got here? You were isis. I'll stop there.
You're afraid? I get that. It's scary. So is driving. You put yourselves at a greater risk every single day just by eating some of the junk that we serve as food here. We are an obese nation that's killing ourselves. We already have a terrorist problem with our own Americans. We have homeless all over the place. While you are saying these are all reasons to not welcome refugees, I say they are all reasons why would should! We could easily tend to those other problems. It's not that we can't, it's that we won't. So why not open our doors to these refugees, we're already dying! What do we have to lose? And do you really think that if 10% of the 10,000 refugees that come over are isis and they do try to start shit that our military (who outpaces all other nations in military expenditures. World military spending totaled more than $1.7 trillion in 2013. The U.S. accounted for 37 percent of the total) won't have enough resources to put an end to it real quick? C'mon man! Where is your faith in our guns and our second amendment? If you plan on taking down our government with your firearms should they become tyrannical, you should have no problem taking care of ISIS. Right? And the reality, I won't deny it, say they do strike. Innocent people may die. Say we don't allow in refugees, innocent people WILL still die.
Newsflash. We all die.
Which brings me to my next conundrum. If we all die, what does this life even matter for? What is our purpose here in this life? Many base their actions in this life with the hope of an afterlife. So, Christians, you have got zero reasons why to not let in refugees. You go to heaven right? So why would you care if you died in the process of helping these people? Although I think that's pretty extreme. Perhaps if you'd turn off the news channels the fear factor would come down a bit. If you are a christian and you want to deny people seeking asylum from a violent country you best stop calling yourself a christian. You can be scared, I get that. But how many times does it say FEAR NOT in the bible? 365 or so? Perhaps you should reread Genesis and Exodus. The very beginning of the book you cling to so sacredly, God led the Hebrews out of Egypt from the hands of oppressive leaders. GOD DID THAT! Should we as Christians not be leading the way in this plea for the people of Syria. And those around that world that are oppressed and in slavery?
But we all die anyway. Does this life even matter? So you decide. I'm stuck. I say let them in. Even if it means risk to American people (who most are here because their ancestors are refugees fyi). If we don't, we still die. Why not try to make life better for someone else for the short time we are here in this life?
We all die in the end. These are the words of Jesus reading about himself from the book of Isaiah,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Shall we not also not the same?
What have we got to lose? Our lives? They are already gone. Our legacy? This problem will not go away. Future generations will be trying to figure this out. Know how I know? Because we've been here for 2000 years. Maybe try something new for a change?
No comments:
Post a Comment