- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
So I had this conversation the other day about the refugee thing. I said I would be honored to welcome refugees into my home. The guy I was speaking with said I was nuts and putting my family at risk. He said that 70% of the refugees are single men, and 10% of them are terrorists. Now, I'm not sure where he's getting his facts, but it didn't take me long to discover that he was absolutely wrong in the first case (it's just a little less than half of the refugees that are male, and half of the refugees are under the age of 18). And I also believe there's no way to know the validity of the second assertion. Just no way to know that.
He put it this way - let's say you had ten people lined up and you had to choose amongst them, knowing that one of them is a terrorist who has sworn to kill you and your family. How would you pick which ones you'd take in? I said that it was simple. I'd just take the first two on the left. He was stunned.
Because two thoughts occur to me. The first thought is that if we allow terrorists to change the way we treat one another, especially when people are in need, the we have truly lost. And perhaps we were never really converted to the religious ideals we espouse/claim. Christ told the person who was surprised to be accepted into heaven and wondered about his qualifications - inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. What were these qualifications? Look at Matthew 25 -
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Now, stranger is an interesting word in the Bible, with a complex set of meanings. While it carries the current meaning of someone who is unknown to you, it also means one who is far from home, who is not of the same culture or religion, and who may be seeking asylum. Essentially, a refugee.
The other thought that occurs to me is that the only way to change someone's mind, particularly a mind full of hate and malice and ill-intent, is to love and serve that person. Maybe I'm just naive enough to believe that there is power in such things, more than in destruction and violence. If we deny refugees a place to stay, are we not validating their prejudices and preconceived notions? How else are we to change these notions?
I believe what King Benjamin said about doing things in wisdom and order, that it is not prudent to run faster than we have strength. But I really do have extra room in my house and would be honored to have it taken up by people who don't have anywhere else to go. I also loved the example of the Nephites toward the Ammonites, where they were refugees, and the Nephites gave them the land of Jershon as a place to live. We have tons of places here they could go. Why not?
Why not?
So I had this conversation the other day about the refugee thing. I said I would be honored to welcome refugees into my home. The guy I was speaking with said I was nuts and putting my family at risk. He said that 70% of the refugees are single men, and 10% of them are terrorists. Now, I'm not sure where he's getting his facts, but it didn't take me long to discover that he was absolutely wrong in the first case (it's just a little less than half of the refugees that are male, and half of the refugees are under the age of 18). And I also believe there's no way to know the validity of the second assertion. Just no way to know that.
He put it this way - let's say you had ten people lined up and you had to choose amongst them, knowing that one of them is a terrorist who has sworn to kill you and your family. How would you pick which ones you'd take in? I said that it was simple. I'd just take the first two on the left. He was stunned.
Because two thoughts occur to me. The first thought is that if we allow terrorists to change the way we treat one another, especially when people are in need, the we have truly lost. And perhaps we were never really converted to the religious ideals we espouse/claim. Christ told the person who was surprised to be accepted into heaven and wondered about his qualifications - inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. What were these qualifications? Look at Matthew 25 -
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Now, stranger is an interesting word in the Bible, with a complex set of meanings. While it carries the current meaning of someone who is unknown to you, it also means one who is far from home, who is not of the same culture or religion, and who may be seeking asylum. Essentially, a refugee.
The other thought that occurs to me is that the only way to change someone's mind, particularly a mind full of hate and malice and ill-intent, is to love and serve that person. Maybe I'm just naive enough to believe that there is power in such things, more than in destruction and violence. If we deny refugees a place to stay, are we not validating their prejudices and preconceived notions? How else are we to change these notions?
I believe what King Benjamin said about doing things in wisdom and order, that it is not prudent to run faster than we have strength. But I really do have extra room in my house and would be honored to have it taken up by people who don't have anywhere else to go. I also loved the example of the Nephites toward the Ammonites, where they were refugees, and the Nephites gave them the land of Jershon as a place to live. We have tons of places here they could go. Why not?
Why not?
Comments
Quincy, Illinois took those people in, sheltered, fed, and helped them in many ways. The parallels are striking. But that wasn't the only time that happened. After they'd killed the Prophet in 1844, and were told by the US government that although the cause was just nothing could be done, the Mormons were expelled again, this time from Nauvoo. The people of Quicy stood tall again, showing their real values and what they believed in.
Maybe it's time to return the favor.