November 17, 2015

I can't keep quiet any longer.

This is hard. If you're at all socially aware, or at least on Facebook, you know something is going on in our world. It feels like everyone has their opinion and needs to throw it out there for the world to see and debate about on social media, knee-jerk reactions and all. I will not be a part of that, but I can't keep quiet about this any more. I only wish I were more eloquent with my words.

In 1939, Canada would not let the ship St. Louis bring Jewish refugees into the country. The over 900 passengers were trying to escape from Nazi Germany and we turned them away at the border. When faced with no other option but to go back to Europe they did, and nearly a third of them ended up dying in concentration camps. Fear stopped us from letting them into our country then and it's happening again now.

ISIS, like Hitler, is a formidable opponent, as what happened in Paris clearly attests to. Paris wasn't the first, though, and likely, heartbreakingly, won't be the last.

Enter fear. Of the four million people displaced by the civil war in Syria there are bound to be some bad apples. Those four million people need to go somewhere, though. Canada has offered to expedite the process of bringing 25,000 of them into the country in the coming months. The backlash against those refugees entering our country has been huge. The thing is, what happens to them if we don't let them in? Where do those people go? What do they do? What can they do? Going home is death. Truly. They left their comfortable lives out of necessity, fleeing for their lives. No, I'm not being dramatic. Turn them away from our borders and they will die, not all of them, but too many.

For those of us that call ourselves Christians, this burden is even bigger. We are called to love others as Christ loved us. I'm not making that up, it's in the Bible. Jesus loved us enough to put himself out there, risking his life and the lives of those he loved. If we really believe that God is on our side, why should we fear death? It will come eventually, and if we have to face it by being missional and showing God's love to 25,000 strangers in the process then I think we're doing our job. 

Of the four million Syrian refugees there are bound to be a few bad apples. There is no guarantee that one of those bad apples will try to sneak in with our bunch, though. Just because the process for weeding them out has been shortened, that doesn't mean it is ineffective. There is also no guarantee that we don't already have a few bad apples in our bunch already. 

If we claim to be pro-life, why does that only extend to unborn children? Why are our hearts not breaking for those losing it all? 

Giving in to fear is letting evil win. 

2 comments:

  1. I have a lot of opinions on this. I love you dearly and I completely understand what you're saying, and I respect it and you and I love you. You know that. While I agree, I also disagree.

    I think there's a huge different between Jewish refugees and Syrian refugees. The Jews weren't out to kill us. Most, if not all, of the Syrians are muslims. Of course they don't all want to kill us, but many do. ISIS has said they will smuggle in terrorists with the refugees. Some of the Paris attackers where refugees. I absolutely believe there are good, honest people included in those fleeing Syria. My heart hurts for them, and I wish there was a way to weed out the bad apples and help the good ones. But looking at Germany, accepting all those refugees has caused major problems. Some of the cities accepting high numbers of refugees have had extreme issues with rape, as many of the refugees are male, and many German citizens have been evicted from their apartments as the government is forcing them out to make room for refugees. The refugees are being taken care of, but the citizens aren't, and I don't think that's ok. I think helping out the foreigners should not come at the expense of your own honest, upstanding citizens. We already have a major immigration crisis in the US, and illegals are receiving far more benefits than hardworking Americans are, and this just compounds the issue.

    I think a lot of verses regarding loving the poor and needy was geared toward individuals and the church and not necessarily the government, but I am no scholar. The government's job is to protect its citizens, and letting in potential terrorists is not protecting us. I'm personally glad my governor is not accepting refugees, as we already have an overwhelming Somali refugee issue in my city and many ISIS ties here already. I do believe we need to help the poor and needy, but I also believe we need to exercise wisdom. I don't think that's necessarily acting out of fear. If there is a blatant risk to national security, and there definitely is one in the US, it's wise to question it. We can trust God to protect us while also making wise decisions. That saying, I have no idea what the answer is. I honestly don't.

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  2. Anna I think you are so correct. Although i want to live a long life and see my babies grow up and all that, I am confident of who I will be spending eternity with and no person can change that. A few potential bad apples are not worth condemming to death so many innocent people who just want a new lease on life for their families

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