"I will do everything humanly possible to stop any plans from the Obama Administration to put Syrian refugees in Mississippi." — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant
If there were ever a perfect example of a knee-jerk reaction, the actions of the governor of our great state earlier this week would be it. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday vowed to block federal relocation of Syrian refugees to the state, joining a group of a dozen or so other governors who did the same thing.
What’s more unsettling than Bryant’s action is reading the pats on the back that he received on social media for the statement.
Bryant, as well as other governors who have spoken out against refugees being planted in their states, has stated his stance is due to reports that a suicide bomber in the attack on Paris last week is believed to have entered France in the flood of refugees who came to that country from Syria.
The terrorist attack may give cause to make sure that any refugee from any country is thoroughly checked before entering our country, which seems to already be taking place, even before the Paris attack. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, has gone on record that refugees go through a vetting process that takes 18 to 24 months.
A refugee must be registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That agency interviews refugees, conducts background checks, takes their biometric data and establishes whether they belong to one of roughly 45 “categories of concern” given their past lives and work history in Syria. Typically, the applicants are women and children. If anything looks amiss, they are pulled from consideration. Then the U.S. government begins its own vetting. The applicants are interviewed again, and their names and particulars are run through terrorism databases. They receive additional screening when they arrive in the United States and then again after their first year in the country.
This process has led to slightly more than 1,800 Syrians being admitted to the United States since 2011, with none landing in Mississippi.
What is worse than the knee-jerk reaction shown by many elected officials is the response I have personally seen from “friends” on social media. The vast majority of my acquaintances on social media outlets are Christians. I have seen many of them react positively to the decisions made by certain governors. I have also witnessed many people on social media give into fear, which is leading them to say things that do not sound like Red Letters from the Bible. Calling for genocide of all Muslim people is probably the worst thing I have read, but there have been many more fear-based and hate-fueled comments crossing my feeds in recent days.
While I understand the concern from people regarding accepting refugees, I think the threat is quite minimal. The threats are being magnified by people hoping to use the fear that is building up inside others as a means for political gain.
“I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.” — Jesus speaking in the Book of Matthew.
Those words do not sound like someone who would turn away ANY person in need. Go through any of Jesus’ parables, and compassion, grace and mercy are always there for anyone asking for it. There are people fleeing extreme violence in their home countries, asking for compassion, grace and mercy from us, and we are turning our backs on them. I feel like that is exactly what the terrorists want us to do.
During certain civil liberty debates in recent years, I have heard a lot of people mention Sodom. According to Ezekiel 16:49, “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and the needy.”
Compassion, grace, mercy and most of all — love are supposed to be tenets of the Christian faith. We pray for people to reach, but what do we do when they are knocking on our door? It seems like many of us are turning our backs and hiding our lights due to fear.
While I understand that our country cannot operate as Christ would, I do not understand why we cannot protect ourselves while also protecting and providing sanctuary for those in need.
For more scriptural proof on how we should treat refugees, read Leviticus 19: 9-10 and 33-34, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Exodus 23:9, Malachi 3:5, 1 Kings 8:41-44, Job 31:32, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Galatians 5:14 and Luke 10:29-37.
That last text is the story of the Good Samaritan. I cannot think of a better piece of scripture to show us the Jesus way of reacting to a person in need, especially given this current dilemma.
The above cartoon was drawn by a friend of mine, David Hayward. Find out more about him and his art at
www.nakedpastor.com.
