This blog is not normally for political conversations, debates, or current events. But this is something that has been on my heart and it should be discussed.
Over the course of the past week, there has been so much talk about the Islamic State and the war that they are trying to create across the world.
There has also been many conversations about the issue of whether or not other countries, like the United States, should allow the Syrian refugees to seek safety within our borders.
Syrians are now the largest refuge population in the world.
I have seen so many conversation on social media about how “proud” people are of their governor for signing some document stating that they will not allow refugees in their state. As of right now, this has occurred in 31 states I believe, including the one that I live in.
I will not stand here and say that I am “proud” of the governor of Arizona.
Frankly, it makes me sad.
When did we as a people become so close minded? How can we, in a right mind, try to justify turning away thousands of people who need our help?
As some of you may have seen, one of the terrorists in Paris had a Syrian passport lying next to him. This, supposedly, proved that he got into Paris as one of the 4 million refugees who have fled Syria.
So obviously, this means that we can hate every single one of those refugees, right? Apparently that’s the consensus.
I don’t understand this viewpoint. We are all people.
Speaking of France, they are still letting in 30,000 refugees in the next two years, even in the wake of the disaster that they experienced.
When did we stop valuing all human life equally?
Equality
Americans acted the same way when it came to the Jews trying to flee Germany when they were being executed. 67% of Americans wanted to “keep them out” as they do the Syrian refugees now. Over half of of the American population at that time said “no” to 10,000 Jewish children (ONLY children) taking refuge here.
Those Jewish children then, are the Syrian children now.
Where would America be today without the millions of Jewish people living here?
The vetting process for this group of human beings is extensive. It takes about 18-24 months for them to be cleared. It’s not just like we are opening our borders and saying, “Feel free to come, whoever you are. We won’t even ask questions.”
Give me a break. There are measures being taken to protect our country.
These are not just men who may or may not be a part of the terrorist group. These are children. These are families.
I dare you to search for google images of where these children are being forced to sleep and stay now because they have no home. This is just one example:
(Photo Credit via newsweek)
Their home has been leveled. Their country is no more. If they stay there, they would become child slaves, or die. The only hope that they have is relying on countries like the United States to help them.
I get it. It’s scary thinking that we might be letting in a terrorist who could potentially bring disaster to our country. This is, of course, why we have the responses from the governors in half of the U.S. Fear, completely justified.
What I don’t understand is how we can punish the millions, for the sins of the 1%?
Is this not what ISIS wants? To bring fear? To make it so we are all against one another? To bring war? By us turning on other human beings, INNOCENT human beings, we are giving them the hatred and the war that they want.
They are dividing us.
They are the ones who need to be punished. Not the families who have lost their homes and who are looking for hope.
Call me a humanitarian if you will. I will gladly take that as a compliment.
If I did not have a family of my own, and four children to look after, there is nothing that would stop me from volunteering for a group like UNICEF because that is how much I believe in this. So please, don’t comment with rude responses. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and this mine.
I challenge you to think about this. Do the research for yourself. Decide to spread love instead of giving in to hatred and fear. Decide that all human lives have value.
Humanity over hatred.
“For God did not give us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7
100% agree with you. My heart is breaking for all of the devastation all over the world. It hurts to see people I consider friends talking about sending people back to their country for this reason or that reason. Where is the sympathy? When did we throw kindness and decency our the window? It’s all just so devastating and I don’t know what to do to get people to open their eyes. But this. This post is phenomenal. I couldn’t have said any of this better myself.
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I agree. Even though we are scared, we shouldn’t prevent that from letting us have compassion for our fellow man. It’s all just heartbreaking.
I couldn’t agree with you more! It is ridiculous the amount of hate and fear there is in this country. What people forget is that there are terrorists in the US that are white Christians, but we don’t condemn the entire Christian population over the actions of a few. And in using Paris as an example, if we were to deny entrance to a group of people over the actions of a few, we should not be letting in the French because the majority of the terrorists in Paris were French born or long time residents, which leads me to believe that it’s not about the act itself but about the persons own xenophobia.
I feel so strongly about this because I myself am the daughter of immigrants. I’m a first generation, American born Cuban. My parents were brought here fleeing Castros regime in the 60’s. Even though I personally didn’t experience what that was like, I’ve heard enough stories of loss and hardship from my family. To hear others who were in my situation speak about not allowing refugees in turns my stomach.
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Thank you for sharing your story!
It’s such a complicated topic. I appreciate the thoughtfulness you put into your post. I pray we find ways to help the least of these!
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I have avoided posting anything on social media about this because 1) I don’t feel like I have enough information to make a 100% informed decision and 2) I really just stay away from the social media battles. However, I am all for human life, especially those of innocent children so if that means helping those in need, then fine, but I am also for helping Americans in need first, because we know there are so many Americans that need help too.
I usually never talk about things like this on social media. But this topic just really tugged at my heart, especially with all of the negativity I’ve seen surrounding it.
This is such a touchy subject but I agree with you. We need to treat everyone as human beings and stop being so paranoid that everyone is out to get us. They probably are, but it is because we have everything at our disposal and we choose to waste it. Our freedom is what everyone envies and envy breeds hate. JMO
I love this: “Decide to spread love instead of giving in to hatred and fear. Decide that all human lives have value. Humanity over hatred.”
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I so agree with you. My heart hurts. I feel so helpless and I cannot even imagine if my family were in their situation. I would hope that anyone would be willing to open their door and help me out.
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Did you see Obama’s tweets about this today?
I agree with you. We should not allow FEAR to lead us right into the war ISIS wants.
So true! No I didn’t see the tweets.
I have no words to say how much I value these words you have written “Decide to spread love instead of giving in to hatred and fear. Decide that all human lives have value.” Humanity over hatred indeed. My heart has been so heavy lately watching what happened in Paris and the reaction that followed. When did we become so politically divided… we can’t even agree to help those that need at their most vulnerable hour? Beautiful post, thank you for standing up.
I totally understand what you’re saying here, and I agree. I wish we could accept and help everyone. It is an impossible task in this system.
Yes to all of this! As a Jewish woman who has grown up learning about the Holocaust, it breaks my heart that we are turning away people who need our help just as our country did to those Jews all those years ago. Many of our leaders are spreading fear and hate instead of spreading the mentality that our country was founded upon. I could go on and on about this, but I appreciate you voicing exactly what I have been thinking.
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