Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free...
In the wake of the Paris attacks a fresh wave of distrust and hatred for Muslims much like what followed 9/11 has been ushered in. Too many are rushing to demonize the Muslims of the world as a whole based on the actions of a few extremists and now many are pushing for the rejection of Syrian refugees. This is a disgrace I cannot in good conscience remain silent on.
First let it be stated clearly that ISIS was our creation. This is the clearest explanation I am aware of.
How ISIS was formed.
We are responsible, we made this mess, and we continue to make the situation worse. Now we are going to refuse to help those fleeing the devastation? Do we not have a moral obligation to help those whose lives we have ruined? Who have fled a monster of our making?
Lets take a hard look at this cultural knee jerk reaction.
Our distrust of Muslims can be directly tied to how they are portrayed in western media. We hear the horror stories repeatedly of barbaric acts perpetrated by Muslims. Make no mistake some of them are awful but no more so than extremists from other ideologies. Nobody is suggesting that because of the extremists among them that Christians are all terrorists or that the KKK represents them. The difference is we tend to view Muslims as “them” as opposed to “us”, it’s a mental tendency called tribalism.
Our experiences with “us” include our friends, family, and most of those that surround us day to day. Some are negative to be sure but most of us would no doubt consider the mass majority to be positive. Our knowledge of “them” however is limited and mostly comes from media portrayal. Only making up about .9% of our population not very many of us have much personal experience with Muslims. Our perception is overwhelmingly shaped by what the media tells us which is almost always negative. The headlines never read “Today 1.6 billion Muslims went about their daily lives”, it doesn’t happen.
The reverse is equally true, perhaps even more so as media is strictly controlled in some Muslim societies. To many poor, uneducated Muslims the west is just a vague concept. Their perception can be easily manipulated by these who wish to control them. In many parts of the middle east where the U.S. has taken military action there is legitimate anger towards the west for the loss of loved ones, destroyed homes, and entire cities in ruins. Terrorist groups are adept at taking that anger and reinforcing misconceptions to recruit new members to their cause. Our blind hatred, our mistrust, our indifference towards their suffering all further the narrative of “us” versus “them” which feeds the ranks of terror groups.
The refugee crisis we face is not only our responsibility, both literally and morally, but also an opportunity to show the world’s Muslim populations that the U.S. is not at war with them. Despite the attack France has vowed not to give in to fear and turn away refugees. Turn off your TV, put aside the narrative the media feeds you, and remember they are people fleeing for their lives.
