How people are calling each other names and saying that they are not true Christians or Americans because they want to protect their family and homeland rather than allow possible terrorists into their homes.
Before I get into that, however, I want to define one word: refugee.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a refugee is a person who has been FORCED to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons.
Here are just a few examples of the memes that I have seen:
The Indians and the Pilgrims. To be honest, it has been a long time since I have been in school and learned about the Mayflower and it's inhabitants, so I had to do some research. Back in 1607, a group called the English Separatist Church illegally left the Church of England and went to the Netherlands where they settled down. In 1620, economic difficulties and fear of losing their English language and heritage lead them to set out for the New World. While on board the Mayflower, 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact that became the foundation of the new colony's government. Sadly, this document has been lost. When the pilgrims found land, it took them several months to actually leave the Mayflower and live on land due to building storage and housing facilities. It was after this time that the Native Americans and Pilgrims actually started to interact with each other. By nothing but an act of God, the Native American that was interacting with these settlers knew how to speak English. His name was Tisquantum or Squanto. Squanto was forced into slavery by good old John Smith (remember him from the movie Pocchontas?) Somehow, Squanto escaped to England where he learned English, and made it back to his homeland to look for his tribe that sadly died of a plague (wonder who brought the plague here?). Squanto spent his time as an interpreter and taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, hunt beaver, and showed them where the best fishing holes were. After Squanto's death, the relationship between the settlers and Native Americans deteriorated as the settlers started to occupy more and more land they killed the very people who helped them to survive to begin with. William Bradford, one of the settlers from the Mayflower, feared that New England would be torn apart by violence and in 1675, his fear became a reality thanks to King Philip's War where approximately 3,750 Native Americans and 1,250 settlers were killed.
My point?
The original Pilgrims were not forced to leave England due to economical, political or religious reasons: they CHOSE to.
When they got here, all was good and well with the world for a time until the settlers wanted more. And they got more by killing those who were already here, those who helped them to stay here.
This one is simply wrong. Joseph and Mary were not fleeing anywhere. According to the Bible, Luke 2: 1-7 tells us that Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census to be taken and everyone had to go to their own towns to register. That is what brought Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem- to register for a census, not because they were forced to flee their land due to economical, political or religious reasons. It wasn't until AFTER Jesus was born that God spoke to Joseph in a dream to escape to Egypt to get away from Herod who was having all boys under the age of two killed. After Herod's death, God spoke again to Joseph to return to Judea and then move to Nazareth due to Judea's ruler being Herod's son and Joseph not feeling safe. Matthew 2: 13-23 So sure, Jesus and his parents were refugees moving from country to country for their lives. That was God's plan all along. Just like it was His plan for Jesus to die on a cross for our sins.
Yes, God tells us to love simply, purely, and wholeheartedly. Yes, we are to be an example of Christ who accepted people where they were and even died for them.. for us. We are even told to help out others in need (lots of Matthew 25 quotes are all over Facebook right now). We are also told to pray for wisdom in all situations. To ask God for guidance in all decisions. To raise our families to know and love and fear God because perfect love casts out fear.
I get it, I really do.
But please stop trying to build yourselves up by saying that we originate from pilgrims who were NOT true refugees. Because sadly, a lot of us do have ancestors that were on the Mayflower. And sadly, a lot of Native Americans died because of them. And there isn't a damn thing that we can do about it now.
History repeats it's self. I don't want that part of history to be repeated. Do you?
I don't want cleverly drawn memes to sway my family and friend's into falseness.
I know it's easy for me to sit here on my computer and type up these things without a care in the world other than what's for dinner because all of the refugees are across the globe and not in my backyard.
Does my heart break when I read the terribly graphic stories of people dying while fleeing their country?
You bet it does.
Do I want to help them out?
I sure do.
Will I?
Yes, through prayer.
Will I throw stones and curse those who make it to the states?
Absolutely not.
Will I love those that are here or will be here?
Sure I will.
Will I continue to defend my family in every way in the "just in case" situations?
You're damn straight I will.
A politician with any power, I am not. But my voice is mine and I will use it to let others know that yes, I'm scared to let terrorists into my country.
Remember 9/11? Boston Marathon? Fort Hood?
You should be scared as well.
Until there is a better way to take care of the people of Syria and Iraq and ensure the safety of America, I will choose to not agree with anyone who wants to welcome them with open arms into the country I fought for when others who have fought for her are suffering.
I'm sorry if that seems closed minded and un-Christlike to some of you, but really, I'm not sorry at all for the way I feel.
I'm glad that we all have differing view points. I'm thankful that we can share them without fear of prosecution. I'm blessed to have friends with a passion to help others both here and abroad.
And I fear that people are not seeing that we are truly in the same book- just reading different chapters of it right now and that this may tear us all apart.
Please, don't let this tear our faith, our country and our relationships apart.
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