Why all the hype about the Syrian refugees?

"But is he Syrian?"

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". . . speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." Ephesians 4:15

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Dear friends, prayer and financial partners,

 

The truth is not always popular. Yet, as Christians we must be truthful. We know, however, that that is not always the case. Particularly is this the case during the heat of a political campaign. So, what I am about to say may not set right with some, but it is the truth as far as I can tell.

What I have in mind is the fuss over the Syrian refugee problem. Shall we let Syrian refugees in, or shall we not? Let me begin by saying that this is not the first time refugees have been a topic of heated discussion. Some of the more popular refugees in the Bible are Joseph, Moses, and Esther. However, there were many many more. For example, Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26) were forced to migrate because of famine. Jacob (Genesis 27, 31, and 47) was forced to flee because of a threat on his life, financial exploitation and famine. Esau (Genesis 36) is another refugee mentioned in Scripture. Joseph (Genesis 37) was a victim of international human trafficking. Then, of course, there is the tender story of Naomi and Ruth who were forced to migrate because of famine. Oh, my, the list could go on forever, it seems. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the prophet Elijah are a few more.

In face of this redemptive history, however, the Jews still harbored an inbreed prejudice against the foreigners in their midst. 

Is it any wonder then that the Jews were reminded to be kind to refugees? As far back as Leviticus God said:

"The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:34 NIV)

Further, we read in Jeremiah:

"Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place." (Jeremiah 22:3 NIV)

Even Jesus, identified himself with the stranger, and the needy:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me." (Matthew 25:35 NIV)

So, friends the bottom-line is that we have no choice. We must open ourselves up to once again be a sanctuary for the disenfranchised, downtrodden, and, yes, the refugee.

That is not to say, however, that we should be naïve or foolish and allow this international crisis to become a Trojan horse that secretly hides the enemy inside. Vetting is absolutely necessary. But it may surprise some that this is already being done. Not just any Ahmad, Mohammad, or Ali can qualify. As a matter of fact under current police none of the thousands of refugees flooding Europe now qualify. And, it may interest you to know that less than .01 % of the current refugees currently residing in the Middle East right now are accepted to go immigrate anywhere.

As I said, we must be honest, and we must have the facts.

Rumor and scare tactics are rampant, however. For example, it is reported that over 2,000 Syrian refugees are currently being processed through our immigration facilities in Louisiana, and the impression is left that these are hot off the boats that fled from Syrian to Europe. Not true. These are men, women, and children that have been languishing in refugee camps in the Middle East for years. Now, granted there are a few exceptions, primarily those who qualify as political refugees and the seriously ill. In a word, these poor indigents deserve our prayers, not out wrath.

Now, I realize that information like this doesn’t win elections, but we must accept the facts; and tell the truth while we are at it. And, not I am not a Clinton-ite, or a Trump-ite, or anything in-between; nor am I suggesting that we throw caution to the wind. However, to suggest that these refugee camps are invested with a bunch of jihadists just waiting (on average 5 years) just to enter our country so that they can blow it up is simply not the truth.

Last evening Bonnie and I returned from Minneapolis after spending Thanksgiving with family there, and at the airport we got on the wrong shuttle to take us to our car; however, the driver very enthusiastically said I will take you to the nearest pickup point to catch the right shuttle. When we got off the shuttle to get on the right one, I thanked him in Arabic. His eyes lit up and then he expressed his delight that someone spoke Arabic to him, and in the process said he was from Egypt and was extremely thankful to be in America. Another Egyptian overheard the conversation and immediately joined in thankful to be in America, too. So, my question is shall we refuse these persecuted Christians simply because they happen to be brown and speak Arabic? I think not. I know, I know, we have had problems with the Somalians in Minneapolis that had radicalized and joined the jihadists; however. it should be noted that they were never really vetted. They were simple rescued from a war zone and plunked down in America.

Now, you ask, what about those homegrown terrorists that appear to be totally integrated into American society but are later radicalized and turn on us, as we have just witness in the incident in San Bernardino? Unfortunately, the spouse (wife) in this case had not been properly vetted. Obviously, tightening up the vetting process is an absolute necessity; however, we must find a way to allow Christian love and compassion reign. As much as I hate to say it, however, we must begin to profile these individuals and place them under closer scrutiny. Whether or not this will take an act of Congress I do not know. All I know is that something must be done to stop gun violence. Suspending the Second Amendment is not the answer, but background checks are an absolute necessity. England has very strict gun laws and freedom to go along with that. So, a democracy can fully operate with such laws and not be a totalitarian state. Surely there is a happy medium here somewhere!

So, the point is, we as Christians are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves and in the process always err on the side of love.

 

As ever, I am thankfully yours,

 

JimR__/

 

P.S. Make sure you double click onto the cartoon to reach the video link to get the real facts.

Are all Muslims evil people?

Question: Professor Roane, is Islam a rotten religious system. Are all Muslims evil?

Answer: Let me begin by saying that no, not all Muslims are evil. As a matter of fact the evil jihadists are in a minority but nonetheless a very strong minority. The moderate silent majority in Islam, just like in Christianity, however, does the advancement of freedom and truth no service by keeping their opinions to themselves—or at best sharing them with just a few friends or acquaintances. 

Unlike, however, Christian that abhors violence as a method for conversion, the Muslims have a long history of coercion, and intolerance. This, of course, began with the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad. The hadith (historical tradition) is resplendent with violent acts and militaristic motifs. In all fairness, however, Judaism is also guilty of the same. Christianity, however, took centuries to even come up with a justifiable war of self-defense—that being St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) in North Africa. 

The Great Philosopher’s website[i] from Oregon State University is a fairly neutral assessment of St. Augustine’s theory on a just war which is identified two aspects of war that required moral justification and guidelines:

             —The right to go to war (Jus Ad Bellum)

             —The right sorts of conduct in war (Jus In Bello)

The right to go to war concerns the justification that a nation must give in order for it to have a moral right to wage war on another.  Augustine laid the basis for four main criteria:

    1. Just Authority - is the decision to go to war based on a legitimate political and legal process?

    2. Just Cause - has a wrong been committed to which war is the appropriate response?

    3. Right Intention - is the response proportional to the cause? i.e. is the war action limited to righting the wrong, and no further. When people speak of "mission creep," this condition is the relevant concern.

    4. Last Resort - has every other means of righting the wrong been attempted sincerely so that no other option but war remains?

The conduct of war is clearly a matter of moral concern.  Therefore, there are moral limits on what a nation may do in prosecuting the war.  Those limits include,

1.   The proportionality of force must be limited to a justifiable goal (no mission creep allowed!);

2.   Discrimination between combatants and noncombatants must be strictly followed. So, unlike the jihadists Innocent, nonmilitary people should never be made the target of attacks.

3.   Responsibility - A country is not responsible for unexpected side effects of its military activity as long as the following three conditions are met:

a.  The action must carry the intention to produce good consequences.

b.  The bad effects were not intended.

c.  The good of the war must outweigh the damage done by it.

Later, Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century expanded the theory, but Augustine’s treatment of the subject remains the classic work.

Muslims, too, claim that war is justifiable but on far more inclusive grounds; that being, primarily, in establishing a theocracy base on Sharia Law (culled as it were from the Koran, and as interpreted by the mullahs—including the more recent notorious ayatollahs, such as the Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini (1900–1989) who labeled America the “Great Satan,” and re- incited a Holy War against Israel and the infidels. 

So, when the strict Quranist speak of peace, such peace is a controlled and submissive peace stringently along the lines of Sharia Law.

Having said, all of that, however, most of the silent majority in Islam passively acquiesce to the rhetoric of radical Islamist. 

So, to answer the question, No, the majority of Muslims, particularly those in the west are not of evil intent; however, there does seem to be enough fodder in radical Islamism to fuel the flames of jihadism even among the most moderate. The one exception may be Sufi Muslims which unfortunately are a small sect in Islam.

Trust this answers your questions,

JimR__/

 

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[i] http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Augustine/augustine_justwar.html

Making Sense Out of Nonsense

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. 1 John 4:10

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Question: Professor Roane, how can I really be sure that Christ is real, or even that God exists?

Answer: Seeing and knowing are really many times two different things. I’ve seen a lot of things in life that I have absolutely no way of knowing—or shall I say, very little chance of knowing? Sight depends on perception and perception rightly interpreted brings about a knowledge of sorts. However, if we like the positivists insist on solid scientific or mathematical proof before we are willing to verify spiritual truth, then we most likely will have a long wait.

How then may we know, if we cannot trust our senses or reason, as in mathematics? No, that’s not the case. We must, as a matter of fact, we are compelled to trust what C. K. Chesterton calls our “common sense."

Commonsense is given, it is never learned nor can it be taught. Commonsense is human intellect graced with understanding. Thus, a graced sense can, make sense out of nonsense. What sense can one make out of a virgin birth? That’s nonsense. However, a grace commonsense gives the concept the wings of reason when we consider that with God all things are possible.

Remember when Christ asked his disciples, and “who do you say that I am?” And, Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah, the son of the living God?’” Christ, of course, followed that up with, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven” after which on the strength of that confession He gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom Of Heaven.

I find it interesting that this knowledge was not made possible by as it were “flesh and blood,” but rather it came as a revelation. In other words, God graced Peter’s common intellect—his commonsense, and Peter came to the only logical conclusion possible. To put it another way, commonsense began to make sense out of nonsense. Flesh and blood—human reason had all kinds of explanations about who Christ was; however, Peter began to put his spiritual two and twos together and all that he had experience as a disciple of Christ began to made sense. “Surely,” he said to himself, “this man is the Messiah. There is simply no way around it!”

Many years ago one of the Latin fathers, Tertullian by name, wrote, “For the knowledge of God is, from the beginning, an endowment of the soul.” In short what he said was that God has graced the soul with the knowledge of God. Not flesh and blood, mind you, but God has graced the soul, that, of course, includes the intellect as well as the will of man. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (prov. 3:5, 6)…” are not idle words just to fill up the pages of a book called the bible. These words are there to encourage you. No you may not know the answer, but God does and if you will only listen and trust he will make your paths straight! In other words, he will take care of things. Just trust.

So the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of his ways—including his will for our life make sense, but only if we trust him. Commonsense tells us to do that.

We must tap into our “inner-self,” not in the New Age sense of the word, but rather from a Biblical and spiritual perspective. And, when we do, we will find that not only is the concept of God there but that His image provides the parameters within which we must operate to remain safe and secure in our pursuit of truth.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out (Romans 11:33 NIV)!”

Take Care!

JimR__/