There
is a lot of anger swirling around Facebook right now regarding Syrian refugees.
People are deleting friends over it and even their own Facebook accounts. This is my take for what it's worth....
I did delete a person who referred to refugees
as 'sand niggers'. Pure disgusting racism. However, I also have friend who is American and he
has a genuine concern for safety around terrorism - whether his concern is
based in reality or not, it is a genuine concern. If I lived in a country that was
impacted by 9-11, I may be far more apprehensive in this situation. I don't know and I'm grateful that I don't have to know how that must feel.
I personally
support accepting refugees wholeheartedly. Full stop. But I want to come from a place of
understanding for my friend who is acting out of concern for the safety of himself and his loved ones. Do I think that welcoming refugees impacts my safety? No, I don't. But for him, that feels real and I know that if I thought something was a threat to myself, or especially to my children, I would stop at nothing to fight it. Nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G, even if that threat was perceived and not real. So I need to have compassion or at least attempt a level of understanding for what he is experiencing. Anything less would be disloyal and closed minded.
The
topics of Christianity, gun control, school shootings, Nazis and fear-based ruling of nations could be invoked at
this time but I don't think it's helpful to the people who are in need of our
focus. It only encourages more strife and that is not what is needed right now.
Do I have compassion for radical Islam extremists who commit acts of terror? Hell no, but they too are doing what they believe is right which just makes me sad. So where do we begin? We begin with doing the right thing. With taking all of the bullshit out of the equation and reducing it down to the Golden Rule. We help the innocents who are in this situation through no fault of their own. We help the babies and their parents who are fighting for their lives.
Why? Because it's the right thing to do and that needs to start somewhere.
I titled this post 'sanctuary'. I always go with my gut when I pull a title for my blog posts and that was the first thing that came to mind. Then I remembered using that title, or at least the word, in previous posts when talking about where I escape to when I need to lick my wounds (I'm talking about you, Barb Thurston and Linda Coffin). Perspective. I have a safe place to go when I'm hurt or sad or angry or feeling hopeless. I also have a comfortable safe home. These refugees, these PEOPLE have nothing. No home, no safety, nothing. My god.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-Edmund Burke
