As with many things in our modern society, the acceptance of Syrian refugees into the United States has become quite divisive. Especially along political lines. And mostly that just results in a lot of screaming and yelling across the aisle with no productive outcomes. I'm personally tired of thinking I should be the loudest voice so that my ideas come to fruition.
So instead, I'm going to listen.
I am struggling to understand why so many Americans, especially Christian Americans, are opposed to welcoming refugees into the United States. I certainly understand the fear of terrorism in the wake of the recent attacks, but those that are committing acts of terrorism are exactly the people whom refugees are fleeing. Refugee families have the exact same fears that we do--except that they often have been living this fear in a very visceral way as their cities experience unspeakable acts of violence as ISIS gains power. This is not something that is a problem for people halfway across the world to them. Instead this is in their front yard and in their neighborhoods. This is in their schools, parks, and churches. They live in a perpetual state of fear (which wreaks havoc on health, but that discussion is for another time).
This is going to be new for my blog, but I would like to invite you all to conversation about whether or not you think that the U.S. should accept Syrian refugees and why. Now just a few ground rules:
- This is still my blog and I will shut it down if you are rude to each other. This is an exercise in listening to each others' opinions and hopefully learning something along the way. It's a discussion though, so there will certainly be varying positions on the issue. This means that I reserve the right to delete comments that are purposefully inflammatory.
- Please use "I" statements and not "we" statements when you are discussing your thoughts. You can speak for yourself but not all men/women/Americans/Christians/Muslims/etc.
- Let's check our privilege. While I do have readers from many countries, the vast majority of us are from developed nations and have never fled somewhere with our families for fear of losing our lives. I know that I have never been in fear for my life like that and it's fairly reasonable to assume that most of you haven't either. If you have, please share your experience with us as you see fit.
So here's where I currently am:
As an American: On Thursday we celebrate a holiday where we were the refugees and Americans welcomed, fed us and kept us alive through the winter. The vast majority of Americans come from immigrant/migrant/refugee families (for those of you--including myself--of Native American descent, we really need to do a better job of apologizing for all of the terrible destruction we've (Caucasian Americans) caused and continue to cause in your communities. Institutional racism is a terrible thing and not something that we will solve with this discussion alone). Sure, this is several generations removed for some of us, but it doesn't make it any less true. I've met and worked with many refugees and all of them have been grateful for the opportunities they were provided once they arrived here--although the process to get here was arduous. Although many of them are not so excited about Nebraska winters, they are so thankful to be out of their home countries which they fled and out of the refugee camps which often are so very dangerous. These are not the people that want anything bad to happen to the people in the country which they now consider home.
As a Christian: The most obvious (and seasonally appropriate) story is that of Jesus's family fleeing Herod. In Matthew 2:13-23, we read that angels told Joseph to GTFO (for lack of a better term) because Herod wants this tiny baby killed. The person we claim as our Lord and Savior was once a refugee. Tracing back to our roots, well before we were considered Christian, we were a migrant/refugee population (see pretty much any part of Exodus). And frequently throughout the Bible you'll find sprinklings of messages regarding hospitality to the "other." We read in Ezekiel 16:49-50, Matthew 10:14-15, and Luke 10:7-16 about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) being that of non-hospitality. The city was destroyed because they were not welcoming to the strangers in their midst. And again in Matthew 25:31-46 we read about the judgement of nations, "...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me....Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." If we take the Gospel seriously, how in the world can we not welcome Syrian refugees into our midst?
I'm hoping to be in dialogue with you, American Christians that oppose welcoming refugees, because I do not understand your point of view currently. Help me to see where you're coming from. In both senses, we were refugees and were welcomed into this land and others. Why are we not extending this hospitality to others?
So tell me what you're thinking. Please remember to not be rude/inflammatory, use "I" statements, and to check your privilege.
But I really do want to hear from you, readers. Because while I think my ideas on things are great, they are not the only ideas and I want to understand your point of view better.
As an added bonus, if you're curious about learning more about the screening process for new refugees to the U.S. you can look at this handy
infographic that explains all of the steps.
