The current debate going on regarding whether we as a nation should allow an influx of Syrian refugees into our country is becoming almost too hot to handle.
I was compelled to write this article after reading Facebook posts from my friends and others sometimes resorting to name calling and denigrating of those who disagreed with them.
The majority opinion seems to be that the dangers of allowing these so called refugees into the US outweigh our customary humanitarian tradition.
The other side usually but not exclusively put forward by progressives believe that we should err on the side of mercy and love for our fellow man. They cite previous waves of immigrants from the late 19th century and early 20th century. Yet, those immigrants were Europeans with similar cultural backgrounds with America and most were at least cultural Christians. And, generally, they were not associated with terrorism. So the analogy and comparisons between them and the Syrians I believe are disingenuous.
Both sides have merit. It now appears increasingly likely that one or more of the terrorists involved in the Parisian massacre gained entrance into France by pretending to be a Syrian refugee complete with a Syrian issued passport.
Our own FBI Director admitted that it is impossible to vett each and every refugee to determine whether that person is or was connected to ISIS or Al Qaeda or one of their affiliates.
First, just the sheer numbers of refugees the Administration wants to allow entry is overwhelming. Second, our intelligence experts need access to Syrian government documents related to each refugee in order to properly vett them. And, that is impossible to obtain due to the destructive civil war going on in Syria.
So, if we allow Syrian, Iraqi and other middle eastern refugees entrance into the US we must recognize that ISIS probably will be able to slip in a few of their militants. Are the progressives willing to suffer a certain acceptable number of American deaths and injuries in the likely event of a Parisian type massacre?
On the other hand, the majority of Syrian refugees are not nor have they ever been terrorists. They are simply innocent bystanders caught as innocents always are in the middle.
The US has a long tradition of accepting refugees from war torn areas around the world. My own mother's family were refugees from the Soviet Union during World War II who after many years of trying finally made it to America. And, they are forever grateful for our liberal immigration policies.
And, as a Christian my ultimate allegiance is not to any human government but to God. And, God, through Christ admonishes us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In fact, we are to love each other as Christ loves us. Our true Constitution is the Sermon On The Mount. Even the Hebrew Scriptures admonished Israel to accept the alien and to treat him as a fellow brother. We are to love even at great risk to ourselves.
As I said before this is a unique issue for me because I agree wholeheartedly with both sides.
In my own experience living in Idaho Springs, Colorado I was presented with a conundrum when one winter night last year a homeless man became desperate because he had been kicked out of a temporary living arrangement and was now living outside in the woods with no tent or blankets. The temperature was in the teens that night when he approached me on the street on my way home asking for shelter.
As the Lucas House where I have been staying is not my house I hesitated because I was quite certain the landlord wouldn't want a disheveled, dirty homeless man living in their rental house.
But, I made the decision to take him in that bitterly cold night anyway. Well, eventually the landlords found out and I received a lecture and a warning.
I had two competing interests to consider here. The owners had a property right in the house and the homeless man had a God given right to mercy. I decided that a human's need for warmth and shelter outweighed the landlord's property rights.
Later, I found to my horror that this homeless man suffered mental illness and proclivities towards violence. And, there were rumors that he had assaulted people in the past.
I did not properly vett this man before I allowed him to share my living space. He eventually threatened me late one night as I was sleeping. Later, after putting up with this scary behavior I was forced to remove him from the house.
The ugly thing about the refugee issue is the complete and utter polarization between our citizens. We can no longer discuss these types of issues without resorting to name calling and questioning of motives.
I've noticed some of my Facebook friends who are in favor of unrestricted immigration accusing those who disagree of hypocrisy and lack of love.
I know many people who are loving and caring individuals but who are worried about another 911 type of attack. Some of those people would give you the shirt off their back.
The ones who are most shrill about letting the refugees in more than likely wouldn't even consider taking a refugee into their own homes. When was the last time they invited a homeless person to live in their home or share a meal?
Oh, but progressives are very vocal that the government should allow them entry. But where would they be housed? Where's the money coming from? We are already $18 or more trillion in debt. And, that's not counting state and local indebtedness. Who's backyard are they going to be located. Who decides that? Will they be housed in concentration camp like barracks until they are housed somewhere permanently? Will their names be tracked on a government database?
But, having said that, Christian conservatives can indeed be hypocrites too. They attend church everytime the church doors are open and can talk a good talk but when the rubber meets the road so to speak when do they show Christ's love for the marginalized?
I saw this hypocrisy up front and center on my journey from Illinois to Colorado. I asked many church pastors for shelter at night and only 2 of them obliged and one of those 2 only did so because the man who recommended me was a good friend of his. He told me he wouldn't ordinarily allow an unknown person in his home. That's Christian hospitality for you!
Hospitality is what made the first century Christians stand out from the crowd. Cicero once said about those of the Way; look how they love each other!
So, we have Christian conservatives accusing progressives of being traitors or un-American. And, we need to be reminded that many progressives are veterans and many have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
You wouldn't know it by observing this debate that there is some middle ground here that we as Americans must find. We must be diligent and search for the middle ground. Otherwise, we will continue to become more and more polarized and suspicious of each other.
We could allow a smaller more manageable number of refugees in and see how that works out before we allow more. We need to find those who are willing to sponsor an individual or family before they are allowed in the general population. Prior to that we could house them temporarily on abandoned military bases.
Eventually, if we do nothing to find middle ground in the midst of our political and cultural discourse we will revert to violence and even civil war.
So, let's stop the name calling and questioning of our opponent's motives. Let's roll up our sleeves and work together for our common good.
BR Schoenbein
November 21, 2015- Saturday
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