Let's talk about these refugees...

In the last week since the attacks that devastated Paris and the subsequent discussion of terrorism, refugees, and ISIS, I've seen a lot of different things. A lot of it has been, quite frankly, disturbing. Some of the attitudes and opinions I've seen flung across social media have been nothing short of direct historical echoes to the 1940's as we battled Germany in the second World War - politicians are seriously suggesting we completely close our borders, refuse asylum to Syrian refugees, and even go so far as to deport those refugees that are already in the country. Others have even gone so far to suggest that Muslim mosques should be placed under government surveillance and that Muslim adherents themselves should even be registered, possibly even being asked to carry a special form of identification to assist in "national security." On the other side, there are people posting a multitude of arguments that we should be even more welcoming than before to Syrian refugees, that we should fling our doors wide open and admit as many as possible. I've seen many quotes of Levitical law regarding how the Israelite community were instructed to treat the stranger and the alien in their midst, remembering that they were once refugees in Egypt themselves. And, of course, as we approach Advent and Christmas in the next month, many comparisons have also been made reminding us that Jesus and his family themselves were refugees and illegal aliens who sought shelter among strangers.

It becomes hard to sort out. There's saber-rattling going on from all sides - in the name of religion, in the name of patriotism, in the name of xenophobia and even in the name of genuine fear and concern. A colleague of mine posted this in response and I'd like to point in that direction for a moment for you to read his remarks. They're touching and very heartfelt. I'd also point out this blog entry that talks about the references to Jesus as refugee. There are people saying things that are unreasonable and frustrating on both sides of this problem - and a lot of the time, it's because most of us don't stop to think before we open up. Hence, I've taken a long time to write this.  I understand where so much of this comes from. 

I understand the desire to show patriotism and solidarity with suffering people. I understand the desire to keep our families safe. And I understand the fear of the stranger. I share those desires and fears all too often.

But at the same time, we need to look at the facts. And so in order to do that without bashing people over the head with Levitical law, I'm going to look at things from what I hope is a more practical, pragmatic perspective:

1. As of Nov. 17th, there has only been ONE assailant in the Paris attacks who may or may not have actually been Syrian. He used a fake passport that has been used by others as well, possibly to create a false trail. Nobody knows for sure who this one person was or where he was from. ALL of the other identified assailants so far have been citizens of E.U. countries - not refugees.

2. The situation in Europe that could have allowed any terrorist posing as a refugee to come into the country unknown is vastly different from the system already in place in America and that has been used to admit refugees. There are definite weak points in both Greece, for example, where guards are scarce and checks not as stringent. Reports currently stand that many refugees, of ALL different nationalities and ALL different ages/genders, are lying about their nationality and claiming to be Syrian so that they can be fast-tracked through Greece's refugee processing.

So how is America's process different? Let's look at some highlights from this article from Time magazine that details it:

• All refugees coming into the US are submitted to extensive background checks. This is after they are submitted to initial background checks by the UN. The US only reviews ones that have already been cleared by the UN's background check system, which does extensive interviews, home country reference checks, and iris scans. This process automatically weeds out any military combatants.
• Refugees from Syria are given additional checks beyond those of other refugees.
• Only about half of the applicants pass the screening process, which itself takes 18-24 months- Of that half, half again are children, 25% are over 60, and 2% are single adult males of "combat age."
• Since Sept. 11, we have admitted roughly 750,000 refugees into the country. Of those, NONE have been arrested on charges of domestic terrorism, and only TWO have been charged with terroristic activities at all.

That means that, if a terrorist wanted to enter the country under the guise of being a Syrian refugee, they've actually picked the HARDEST MEANS POSSIBLE to do so. And all of this stringency in screenings was BEFORE the attacks on Paris. Think it was hard to get in before? I'll bet it's even harder now and the screenings are even MORE stringent.You know what's an easier method? Tourist visa. And while everyone else is losing their minds talking about trying to shut down the borders entirely, we have some people in our legislature who are already seeking to fix this so that it's not a security risk anymore.

The refugees turning to us for shelter? They're not terrorists. As the stats show above, they're elderly people, women, and children. They're running from those same people that we're so concerned about. And they're running to a people that claim to be the greatest people on the planet, the strongest country in the world, the land of the free.You want to know where the bigger threats of terrorism are for the United States? We don't even need to look past our own borders: we are our own biggest threat. Just to establish a basis of comparison, let's limit our consideration to events after the Gulf War, as this would be arguably when we would have made enemies for ourselves out of Middle-Eastern terrorists.

I sat down and started to research in the most accessible form I found possible: I searched Google/Wikipedia for records of terror attacks, disasters, mass shootings, rage killings, hate crimes, and foiled plots, then I started counting. Here's what I found, by category:

•   Incidents connected solely to mental illness: 16
•   Incidents that were criminally motivated/unknown motive (as in robbery, domestic mass shootings, unknown motives): 24
•   Bombing/Murder Incidents committed by Eco-terrorists: 7
•   Bombings/Murders/Terrorism committed by Extreme Anti-Abortion groups: 22
•   Incidents classifiable as hate crimes (White Supremacy groups and Islamic extremists in separate categories; includes a *significant* number of anti-government militia group attacks and foiled plots by those groups.): 37
•   Incidents of mass violence committed by White Supremacists (including a handful of foiled plots): 17
•   Incidents connected to radical Islamism committed by US Citizens (including naturalized citizens. A surprising number of these are committed by American converts to radical Islam. This also includes a large number of foiled plots that led to arrests, though no violence was committed - this is for purposes of a broader view of the threat of terrorism in America): 35
•   Incidents of Islamic extremists terrorism (the majority of these are foiled plots by illegal immigrants or terrorists on temporary visas. This list also includes both attacks on the WTC): 17

Some observations from these numbers:

- The deadliest domestic terrorist attack in US history was committed in 1995 by a white Army veteran who was seeking revenge for the way the government handled Waco. He killed 169 people and wounded hundreds more.

- There have been more attacks and plots on US Soil in the last 24 years from purely AMERICAN extremist groups than from ALL Islamic Extremist attacks and plots COMBINED, citizen AND alien.

- So far as I have been able to tell, none of the foreign Islamic extremists who were arrested or who carried out their plans did so under the guise of being refugees.  Some had refugee parents who brought them in as children, but even with this concession, you can't really blame refugees for something a person decides to do much later in their life.

- The danger of Islamic extremism breeding terrorism is far greater among our own citizenry as people convert than it is from foreign terrorists who sneak their way onto our soil. From a practical standpoint, this also makes a lot more sense: why waste time trying to smuggle people into a country and risk being caught and stopped when you can just as easily convince people who are already legally there that they should support your cause?

Put all that information together. What does it add up to? The danger we open ourselves up to by allowing Syrian refugees to continue to go through the stringent screening processes already in place is insignificant compared to the danger we already live in on a daily basis from our own citizenry.  We have to make the decision: do we live our lives in fear, letting terrorism do exactly what it's meant to do, refusing to love our neighbor for fear of being hurt by them at any given moment? Or do we boldly reach out, both in the spirit of Christ and the spirit of our own country, to provide shelter to the people running in fear from the same things that we fear? Do we still find value in the words of Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus" as they are still emblazoned at the feet of the Statue of Liberty?

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Do we still find scripture to be authoritative in our lives?  I don't even need to turn to Leviticus or to any kind of laws here.  Paul writes with encouragement to Timothy, saying "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7)

Don't we show ourselves to be stronger than terrorists when we refuse to let fear govern our lives and policies?  Do we not strike a harder blow against the goals of these evil individuals by standing firm and strong in our true American principles than we could ever accomplish through any drone strike, bombing run, or ground force?  If we are to go to war against terrorism, if we are to really combat it in this world, its eradication will not come out of the barrel of a gun; terrorism can only be eradicated through the complete rejection of violence and hatred.  When we stop fearing our neighbor for who they might be and start loving them for who they are, terror cannot exist.  When we reach out in compassion instead of conquest, we leave no more room for violence.

Does that mean we might put ourselves at risk?  Absolutely. But you know what?  If I'm going to be killed, then by God I want to die knowing I was doing something to help someone else.  I want to know that I made a difference to somebody.  And I want to know that we chose to do everything we could to help as many people as we could because, above all else, we weren't so afraid of what might happen that we let go of everything that has made us the country to which everyone turns.