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defrogSome people have asked me about the decision by many state governors and other politicians to refuse to help Syrian refugees, and I’m happy to respond:
1. Syrian refugees are no threat to anyone except people who have convinced themselves that Muslims are The Enemy Of America.
2. Which arguably doesn't matter since these anti-refugee policies and opinions being tossed around are not really about security or safety. They are about highly placed politicians (mostly Republican but some Democrats too) posturing, fearmongering and offering cheap feelgood solutions (concentration camps, ID cards, ship ‘em back and keep killing as many Muslims as it takes to keep America safe, etc) for political gain.
3. They’re doing it because, sadly, it works. Sometimes it works all too well. But they’re getting support for their actions from people who are, very simply, afraid of Muslims.
4. I know this because many people I know, who are otherwise rational and generally nice, posted support for proposed anti-refugee policies in Tennessee over concerns about safety. The terms “national security” and “common sense” get used a lot. One person did say, “I hope this isn’t just a case of fear winning.” To which my response is:
If you refuse to help an entire group of people in need simply because you suspect one of them will commit an act of terror that would kill you or yr loved ones – even though statistically you are far more likely to be killed this afternoon by a careless driver or a household accident or one of these guys – then yes, fear is winning. You can dress it up as “national security” or “common sense” all you like, and you can even say yr just concerned over the vetting process (even though it’s already a very strict process). It’s still all about fear. And because fear is a key metric in the effectiveness of terrorism, that means the terrorists are successfully terrorizing you.
5. As many of the Republican politicians spouting anti-refugee rhetoric often tout their Christian credentials as a job qualification, it’s worth pointing out that Jesus would not do this. Scripture is pretty clear on this point.
6. For the people who have tried to justify these policies by shifting attention to America’s homeless vets in some kind of “Americans first” meme, I bring news: we can actually tackle the homeless vet problem AND take in some war refugees while we’re at it. We do have the capability. What we don’t have is the political will to do it (which is why we have so many homeless vets in the first place). I do suspect that at least some of the people circulating that meme don’t actually care about homeless vets – they’re just trying to score points. But I don’t object to people raising awareness of the issue – hey, maybe we’ll actually do something about it – I just object to the idea that we can only do one at a time.
7. All up, this is probably one of the sadder moments in American history – and also ironic, as all the dithering is due to an attack that didn’t even happen in America. Also, it’s really a drag to see so many people I know – who, as I say, are otherwise nice and decent people – consumed by fear and hatred (with the former usually feeding the latter). And it makes me sad because I feel powerless to prevent it.
But I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise. In the aftermath of 9/11 plenty of politicians and Bush admin officials were keen to exploit the shock and horror of that event to their own ends – to redefine terrorism from a crime to a war declared by Islam, which allowed them to treat all Muslims the same way we treated Japanese-Americans in WW2 – i.e. The Enemy Of America. Lots of people bought into that paranoia trip out of fear and anger. I’d hoped we had come a long way since then.
Apparently not.
Granted, it’s an election year, and Donald Trump is still leading the polls, so the demagoguery is at higher-than-usual volumes. Still, it can’t be a good sign that the voters are eating this stuff up. When future historians tally up the War On Terror™, they may well peg 2015 as the point where the terrorists won.
Refuse to be terrorized,
This is dF
1. Syrian refugees are no threat to anyone except people who have convinced themselves that Muslims are The Enemy Of America.
2. Which arguably doesn't matter since these anti-refugee policies and opinions being tossed around are not really about security or safety. They are about highly placed politicians (mostly Republican but some Democrats too) posturing, fearmongering and offering cheap feelgood solutions (concentration camps, ID cards, ship ‘em back and keep killing as many Muslims as it takes to keep America safe, etc) for political gain.
3. They’re doing it because, sadly, it works. Sometimes it works all too well. But they’re getting support for their actions from people who are, very simply, afraid of Muslims.
4. I know this because many people I know, who are otherwise rational and generally nice, posted support for proposed anti-refugee policies in Tennessee over concerns about safety. The terms “national security” and “common sense” get used a lot. One person did say, “I hope this isn’t just a case of fear winning.” To which my response is:
If you refuse to help an entire group of people in need simply because you suspect one of them will commit an act of terror that would kill you or yr loved ones – even though statistically you are far more likely to be killed this afternoon by a careless driver or a household accident or one of these guys – then yes, fear is winning. You can dress it up as “national security” or “common sense” all you like, and you can even say yr just concerned over the vetting process (even though it’s already a very strict process). It’s still all about fear. And because fear is a key metric in the effectiveness of terrorism, that means the terrorists are successfully terrorizing you.
5. As many of the Republican politicians spouting anti-refugee rhetoric often tout their Christian credentials as a job qualification, it’s worth pointing out that Jesus would not do this. Scripture is pretty clear on this point.
6. For the people who have tried to justify these policies by shifting attention to America’s homeless vets in some kind of “Americans first” meme, I bring news: we can actually tackle the homeless vet problem AND take in some war refugees while we’re at it. We do have the capability. What we don’t have is the political will to do it (which is why we have so many homeless vets in the first place). I do suspect that at least some of the people circulating that meme don’t actually care about homeless vets – they’re just trying to score points. But I don’t object to people raising awareness of the issue – hey, maybe we’ll actually do something about it – I just object to the idea that we can only do one at a time.
7. All up, this is probably one of the sadder moments in American history – and also ironic, as all the dithering is due to an attack that didn’t even happen in America. Also, it’s really a drag to see so many people I know – who, as I say, are otherwise nice and decent people – consumed by fear and hatred (with the former usually feeding the latter). And it makes me sad because I feel powerless to prevent it.
But I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise. In the aftermath of 9/11 plenty of politicians and Bush admin officials were keen to exploit the shock and horror of that event to their own ends – to redefine terrorism from a crime to a war declared by Islam, which allowed them to treat all Muslims the same way we treated Japanese-Americans in WW2 – i.e. The Enemy Of America. Lots of people bought into that paranoia trip out of fear and anger. I’d hoped we had come a long way since then.
Apparently not.
Granted, it’s an election year, and Donald Trump is still leading the polls, so the demagoguery is at higher-than-usual volumes. Still, it can’t be a good sign that the voters are eating this stuff up. When future historians tally up the War On Terror™, they may well peg 2015 as the point where the terrorists won.
Refuse to be terrorized,
This is dF