Belgium on my Mind

With Brussels being in the news so heavily over the last week, I've been thinking a lot about my trip there this past summer.  It's such a beautiful city filled with such wonderful people.  I hate that they're having to go through such a terrible chapter. Everyone I met there was lovely.  The city was welcoming and friendly, and I could have spent a few more days there getting to know even more about their culture and their people.  

I think that's why the House's decision to not let Syrian refugees into the US bothers me so much.  We had a chance to be just as welcoming and open as Brussels was.  We could have kept our humanity and let these people who are desperate to flee a harsh regime (the same regime the US also has an issue with, mind you) and allowed these people to enter the US freely.  But no. We chose the lesser choice - the choice that's shameful in every way.  

I've been listening quietly - ok, not quietly, I rail to family and friends but stay out of the debates in public - for a week now.  I've seen harsh comments on Facebook that assume these refugees are terrorists.  I've heard people equate all Muslims with terrorists.  My favorite response to this is from a quote I read online - saying all Muslims are terrorists is like saying all Christians are KKK members.  It's just not true and is highly offensive. Honesty trumps ridiculousness every time.

I even heard someone at work today talk about how if we let the refugees into our country, it's "only a matter of time before they destroy the US."  How exactly are these people, who have no homes, no money and no way to support themselves, going to take down a country as giant as the United States?  This same person went on to quote some news story about an FBI chief that said the government has already lost a Syrian refugee  - they have no idea where this refugee went within the US. Ok, a college in MD lost a student this week and they also have no idea where this student went.  But we're not thinking this student is a terrorist. 

Another poster on Facebook this week wanted to know why the refugees weren't joining the military in their country.  They thought that if Americans were threatened in their own country they'd join arms and fight.  But the rationale breaks down when you think about the military of that country being the one the Syrians are fleeing.  If they were to join the military they'd be fighting among ISIS members - the ones that you're calling terrorists.  So you're angry that the Syrians are choosing not to fight along side the actual terrorists?  If they were to fight along side them, would you be more or less willing to let them in to our country?  I'm a little lost in your logic...

The fact is, if the US continues to answer the pain of terrorism with even more pain and hate, then the American people will never rise above the problem.  If we lose our humanity and our kindness in the wake of such attacks, the terrorists really have done what they were hoping to do in the first place - spread their hateful agenda around the world.