i like how Jeff Jacobson put this into new terms recently in an email conversation we had about the (naive) comments left on that News Sentinal article I told you about. he actually posted this as a comment on the article & i borrowed it to share with you :) (thanks Jeff!)
Imagine a rogue military unit sweeping in from Ohio. It occupies Fort Wayne and seizes control of the city. Our federal government looks the other way. The military leaders start "cleansing" the area of Hoosiers and anyone who is not a native Buckeye. Men are killed, women are raped, and children witness it all. In an utter state of confusion and desperation we depart en masse (and by foot) to Canada where we’re sequestered in a camp with only the shirt on our back. We spend ten years in this camp, at least, and the lucky among us eventually get sent to Bolivia to start a new life without fear of persecution. We can’t go back to Fort Wayne. Ever. We try to explain to the Bolivians that we're legal and there for a reason but they don't understand us and they want us to leave. We don’t look like them. We do the best we can in a new culture and a strange land -- we learn their language, we try to get jobs, we try to provide for our families. It’s not easy, but at least it’s better than what’s happening back in Fort Wayne.
Sound too crazy to believe? Try telling that to a refugee.
i have heard so many myths and judgments about refugees recently, but also some very genuine questions from those seeking to understand. i would love to attempt answers for every question, but i am not sure i can promise that. i hope you will continue to read as i share my heart and some things that are very important to me, in hopes we will better understand our new neighbors.
here's a few questions I have heard:
Are refugees here to stay?
Are refugees required to learn English?
Why are they here?
Are refugees here legally?
How can refugees really "enrich our lives"?
Why do we help refugees when we have hungry people in our own city?
Why do we let in refugees of so many other religions, including Islam?
I hope some of these questions rub you wrong, they do for me. I also hope to help answer some of them, or others that you may have. if you have questions, please post them & i'll try my best to help answer or research.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
Albert Einstein
No comments:
Post a Comment