My good friend John Ryan asked what the USA can and should
do to protect American citizens from terrorists and other violent immigrants.
Is it safe to reach out and help the one million pregnant refugees on the roads
of this heaven-cherished world of ours? Will my children be safe?
Several things.
First: Here’s what the process looks like for refugees. We
have a process, and it will protect us. I suspect that if there are a million
people going through, somebody somewhere might do something bad; if you want
complete and perfect safety, join your local cemetery. But if you live in the
real world, look at this process:
Second: what happens to a dream deferred? A quick reflection
on American history:
Third, some stats on the Syrian crisis – Syria alone:
Fourth, some global stats:
Fifth, my comment:
If four million people flee from barrel bombs and poison gas
in Syria, and the USA and Europe do nothing for three years, and most of those
refugees end up in dead-end camps in Turkey & Lebanon & and Jordan,
then those people are likely to become desperate and break through all barriers
to run for freedom. That’s what happened in Europe last year. Refugees will
run, and the question is not WHETHER they will arrive in Europe (now) and the
USA (later), but only HOW. If you ignore a festering problem, there will be a
disorderly explosion. So we solve the problem in an orderly fashion, or reap
the whirlwind.
Sixth, my experience in local masjids (mosques):
John, when a crazy person screams Allah is great, and then
does something terrible, it’s disturbing. But almost certainly, it won’t touch
me in Damascus MD, nor you in St Louis. The people in real danger after such an
incident are our Muslim neighbors, who face the backlash. One of the things
that impressed me deeply when I visited the three masjids (mosques) near me was
that they were dealing with new fears in a way that you and I are not. They
were calm and warm and hospitable people, but there was a caution about how to
dress and how to respond to bigots that is not a part of my life. They are far
more worried about terrorists than you and I.
John, the masjid in Germantown is helping a dozen Syrian
families who live in Baltimore. The families have food and clothing and
shelter: God is good and so are some Americans. But they deal with: loss of
homeland, loss of family members, disorientation, homesickness, bureaucracies
for every little thing, sirens all night, violent and hateful neighbors (a tiny
minority but still tough on kids), unemployment and all that that curse
entails, complex systems for medical care. They are all in inexpensive housing,
which means poor neighborhoods, which means needles and condoms in the gutters
and gunfire at night. They want to go home, and that won’t happen. Their eyes
shine with friendship and simple joys, but I wept. John, the Potato Famine is
now, and we have become those English who didn’t quite notice the desperation
and death across the channel, who fed their horses on our food while our
families starved.
I didn’t shift the topic. There are terrorists and bad
people out there, for sure. But the refugees in our midst are not the threat.
Our new neighbors suffer from the terrorists far more than we do.
Seventh, what does it look like if we pitch in and help? A
few months ago, I tried to get a picture of what that might look like:
John, friend – I think I heard your question, your concern.
I didn’t know how to respond quickly or briefly.