Dear refugee woman,
I see you there, struggling with your children, wondering what might be next.
You weren’t Muslim enough for the extremists in your country. Or you refused to become Muslim and instead were threatened with your very life and the lives of your children.
You’ve probably already lost your husband. And if you haven’t you are afraid for his life, too.
You’ve been bombed by those fighting the extremists in your country. Your home and your homeland is in shambles.
I see the worry in your face. Every line earned.
You’ve seen and experienced violence the likes of which my privileged, white, self has never even had nightmares to rival.
You had no choice but flee. Flee the problem. Flee the arrogant supposed solution to it.
Run for your life. Run for your children’s lives.
Run to where? Nowhere. No job, no home, no money. Run away from terror into horror.
I’m sorry for your luck, really. Through no fault of your own you look like them. Whoever them is. You have the wrong color skin. You wear the wrong garments. We can’t help you.
To hell with you. We’re closing the door in your face.
I see you, but you are on your own. I will turn my head pretend that my country and others have no blood on their hands. I will pretend that we had no hand in empowering those who seek to do you harm. Your plight is not my problem.
I see you there, with your trouble on every side. You might just bring your trouble to me. I will close my eyes and hope it turns out alright for you.
I’m praying for you, nonetheless. I hope you find Jesus before it’s too late.
Warmest regards,
The United States of America
——————————————————–
I am sad to see our country closing it’s borders to those in need. I have no idea how to help in any tangible and meaningful way.
If you want to help, even in a small way, please consider giving to one of these organizations:
Out From Under the Umbrella 
November 19, 2015 at 11:04 am
You know I agree. Well done!
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 11:33 am
Thank you! And, yes, I know. 🙂
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 11:19 am
Thank you for helping me to see the very human face of this issue. We are divided as a country. One side thinks we do not have the resources to help, they are potential terrorists, or we should help our citizens in need first. The other side sees the worry in the women’s faces, the dirty, sad children, and the humanity in it all. With that said, I see individuals in pain, in shambles, living on our streets that our country is ignoring. I can see why some think that it is almost a slap in the face to the people who are not being supported by our country. I also see how, as fellow humans, we need to help these people. I am still divided. Regardless, this was absolutely beautiful and sad. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 11:32 am
Thank you for visiting and for your thoughtful comment.
I know that people are divided. You know the thing that I find so very sad, and I’ve said this before in other posts, is that we are one of, if not the, wealthiest nation in the world. We can help our citizens in need and the refugees of this world. It doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. We just don’t want to.
Tax me? Hell no! Don’t force me to help someone! I realize there has to be a balance to all of this but we have enough resources in this country to do all of these things.
I agree with you that some see it as a slap in the face of citizens. I agree with you that we need to help veterans and the needy here. I think we can do both. Maybe that makes me a bleeding heart liberal. So be it. I think it makes me a
humanistHumanist. But I think it’s a shame that we have people living on the streets when we have the means and the capacity to do better.Is this who we are as a nation? My sincere hope is that compassion and love will trump our fear.
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Totally agreed!! Our country can and will help! What’s sad is that they only help when it looks good on them, be it for foreign policy, or as a “Hey, look at how giving the US is!” All the while, we have homeless and the very poor struggling. It’s sad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Isn’t that disgusting? That we only help when a)we can get some good publicity out of it or b) when it benefits our interests.
Just look at Darfur as a prime example. It’s so sad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Yup 😔
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 11:37 am
Unfortunately, your Republicans are making your country look terrible.
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 11:44 am
Indeed. You know, it is one thing to voice concerns about the situation. It only makes sense to be prudent and make sure security measures are in place and that they are being adhered to. It makes complete sense to be vigilant. But completely closing the door in the face of people running for their lives? Love thy neighbor, indeed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 11:49 am
Violet has a great post up about this.
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 11:51 am
Link?
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 11:54 am
https://violetwisp.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/breaking-news-bible-translation-errors-discovered/
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 11:49 am
Nate from “Unpack Those Thoughts” posted this on facebook:
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/11/18/1451656/-Indiana-s-Republican-governor-kicks-out-Syrian-refugees-reserves-place-for-himself-in-hell
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 11:52 am
What will be next? Internment camps?
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Ruth, here’s what many Texans do or talk about doing… 😦
http://kxan.com/2015/11/16/vandalism-reported-at-pflugerville-mosque/
Yes, sadly most of my home state and other parts of the U.S. want to retaliate as a “religious right” not just a moral right. They LAUGH at the idea of taking in refugees. But why hasn’t 4 or 5,000 years of cyclical human atrocities taught civilized “educated” nations — like us — that the problem is not a religious one, it is psychologically deluded extremists exhibiting the classic 5 common forms of extreme fundamentalism pathology:
1. Dualism (good vs evil)
2. Paranoia & rage
3. Apocalyptic hopes of transformation started by them
4. Charismatic leadership (overt arrogance)
5. Totalized conversion or world conversion
How many examples of this can we name throughout all human history?
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 7:21 pm
Right, and extremism also isn’t exclusive to the religious, though they do comprise the majority of them. But look at China and North Korea where indoctrination is a way of life and they are constantly criticized for their human rights practices.
Harmful ideologies are not exclusive to religions. I was listening to a news spot this morning where they were talking about the fact that most of these are thugs to begin with – not particularly religious. They are criminals and their ideals are radical already. They are radicalized before they are Islamicized rather than the other way around. Islam(and various other religions) support there radicalism and reinforce it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Well done Ruth.
Fear is a bad thing. People become irrational too easily. If they reasoned in this same way, maybe they would not sell guns, every buyer is a potential mass shooter
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 8:10 pm
These are the kinds of things I’ve had running through my facebook feed the last few days. It makes me ill.
and this:
and this:
Yet these are the same ones who scream about their second amendment rights. They are citizens, dammit, and shouldn’t be screened to get a gun(it gives me nightmares thinking about some of them owning a gun).
I don’t even bother responding. I’m just backing off facebook because I can’t bear to see unfettered ignorance.
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 7:52 am
I am speechless. So to someone, refugees are worse than rattle snakes or did I misunderstand?
Every time I see the atrocities we commit against one another and how we respond, I ask myself how human beings can claim to be the most intellectually advanced specie on the planet
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 20, 2015 at 9:08 am
I don’t think you misunderstood. In the right-wing circles around here all the Syrians fleeing that region are lumped in together. Nevermind that some of them are Christian, even. A snake is a snake.
It has been proposed here by a couple of presidential candidates that we allow some refugees in so long as they are Christian. Because no one has ever lied about that, I guess. I mean, what would you even use as a test for that? All I can do is shake my head…
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 9:12 am
I found that rather strange. They can come only if they are christian. The next thing you know, all refugees are christian. Maybe next they will say but they can’t be katlicks
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 9:15 am
Isn’t that odd? And when President Obama said that this was patently un-American he was chastised by the far right.
In my lifetime this has been the single most disheartening time in my homeland. The xenophobia is real and it makes me so sad.
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 11:56 am
If Congress has its way, I think the fate of refugees is now sealed
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 12:08 pm
Mmm…not so much. My understanding of what Congress has passed is a pause in the refugee program to assess it’s weaknesses, to be resumed at a future date. As it stands now it takes a refugee two or more years to pass through the program and enter the U.S. It’s not as if they can claim asylum and be automatically granted admission. I don’t necessarily take issue with reviewing the program, though I do not think a pause is necessary. It’s not as if we would have a sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees. It would be more like a slow trickle.
If, on the other hand, the idea behind a pause is to dismantle the program altogether I will be very discouraged.
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Apologies. Your post is SPOT ON right and reminds us how to be human! Very well written Ruth. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 19, 2015 at 5:15 pm
Beautiful piece written by a lovely spirit. I admire you so very much (and am jealous too of how well you express things).
And am so very sad as I view the events of the world. Just today candidate Ben Carson likened the refugees to rabid dogs. Sometimes what you say about others really says more about you than it does about them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
November 19, 2015 at 8:14 pm
What a beautiful thing to say. Thank you, exrelayman!
I’ve been sickened by the number of comments I’ve seen calling the refugees our enemies. As though they are all evil. smh…
LikeLike
November 19, 2015 at 9:18 pm
What is really sad is that Ben Carson’s view will play well to his core constituency.
The irony is that it is the liberal Christians (so detested by the fundamentalists) who are the ones who try to put into practice the teaching of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Those who claim to be most committed to the Bible act more like the characters in the parable who avoided helping the stranger in need.
LikeLiked by 1 person
November 20, 2015 at 9:11 am
I don’t know if you read the replies to makagutu above, but yes, it is really sad that his comments will resonate with his constituents. For people who are supposedly not to worry or fear they sure are afraid of a lot of things.
“Those who claim to be most committed to the Bible act more like the characters in the parable who avoided helping the stranger in need.”
Bad ol’ Pharisees…
LikeLike
Pingback: Hypocritical Excuses | Mere Atheism
November 20, 2015 at 3:04 pm
You express yourself and your frustration so beautifully here Ruth. Thank you for writing this.
LikeLike
November 20, 2015 at 5:45 pm
There was a meme on FB that reminded us we were once refugees ourselves …
LikeLike