Opinion: Thanksgiving and Refugees

We are now in the Thanksgiving season, a time we celebrate when colonists in 1621 at Plymouth Rock came together with Wampanoag Indians to share an autumn harvest feast that is known today as the first Thanksgiving. We give thanks for all we have- such as family, friends, and good food. Something we don’t always acknowledge and give thanks for though is our freedom, which many people in the world don’t have. That’s why during this time of good fortune and generous hearts, I find it a bit hypocritical that many in our country want to turn away the thousands of Syrian refugees that seek safety in our great country.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people are afraid. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, many are anxious allowing Syrian refugees into the country due to it will give ISIS a direct portal into attacking our country on our own soil.

“Congress I think should defund all the programs that allow all these people to be here. Immediately. Today,” Republican candidate, Dr.Ben Carson, said Monday, November 16th in Nevada.

Some think that because ISIS is a Muslim extremist organization, we should only focus on helping Christians escape for now.

“I think we need to do thorough screening and take in a limited number. There are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now. They’ll be either executed or imprisoned, either by Assad or by ISIS. We should focus our efforts as it relates to the refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered,” Republican candidate, Jeb Bush, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, November 15th.

But at the same time, there are thousands of both Christian and Muslim refugees that just want to escape the terror and turmoil that is happening in their own backyards. And they all need our help and compassion at the moment. They’re not just another nuisance that we have to “deal with,” they’re innocent PEOPLE.

“We cannot let them into this country, period,” Donald Trump said Monday, November 16th. “Our country has tremendous problems. We can’t have another problem.”

I’d like to think that our country can rise above the suspicion and terror that ISIS has brought to the world, and do our part to help. We’re a great nation, we were once immigrants ourselves- aka Thanksgiving.

“The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism, they are the most vulnerable as a consequence of civil war and strife. It is very important … that we do not close our hearts to the victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism,” President Obama said at a press conference on Monday, November 16th.

Well put. Mr. President. Well put.

*Disclaimer: Opinions written express the writer’s own convictions and should not be taken as The Uproar’s ultimate stance.