The most interesting observation this week, has been, of course on Facebook. People fussing with each other over what they consider to be “politics,” regarding the Syrian crisis, ISIS and the issue of allowing Syrian Refugees into our country.
I’m almost certain most citizens do not know how many refugees we normally allow into our country a year, or probably never even thought about it, I know I haven’t really given it much thought up until now. I’ll bet you would be surprised to know it’s 70,000. That number was recently raised to 85,000 by President Obama. I would go one step further to say, a majority of American’s forget that the fundamental purpose of a “melting pot” is to allow people from all over the world to join a civilized country become as one nation instead of many. It doesn’t mean we all look alike, we all share the same religious beliefs, heritage, etc., it simply means all come here to become a part of and help forge a civilized society. With that said, this world is not the one that it was when we first chose to allow refugees to flee their country and come to the USA. It’s not the same world!
I can honestly say I don’t recall (until 9/11) EVER hearing a story, in my entire life, of women and/or children strapping bombs on their chests and blowing themselves up, ever! Up until 9/11/2001, I honestly had not heard too much about Islam and honestly had very little idea of what a Muslim even was. The most bizarre religion I knew of was The People’s Temple, in Jonestown, Guyana back in 1978. Up until that time, talks of religious “cults” were discussed, but it usually consisted of people renaming themselves “Flower” and “Sunshine,” passing out peanut brittle and trying to recruit more people to smile with them on their happy farm. I suppose I was either sheltered or it wasn’t enough of an issue to make the news.
Fast forward to 2015.. Guyana seems a long way off doesn’t it? Well, not really.. if you pay attention, you will hear people talk about those that are oblivious, as “Kool-aid drinkers,” this is a direct reflection of the events that took place in Guyana so many years ago. There always has been and always will be, terrorists, psychopaths, and religious extremists. You don’t want to get me started on Westboro Baptist Church. The point is.. .it’s not a political issue, it’s a power issue, and that’s the bottom line. You don’t hear of the USA getting up in arms about letting Buddhists into our country because they are peaceful. I don’t know of nor have I ever heard of any radical Buddhists. I actually think that would be a contradiction of terms, would it not? People that are on a power trip, will always want to rule the world. So where do we draw the line between the peaceful people of Syria and the radicals that want to infiltrate the refugee line and come into our country and do harm? I don’t know, but I do know there is an imminent threat of terrorism when allowing anyone to come through our borders right now.
The World According To Charlie 