Many different people have had many different responses to the attacks last week in Paris. Some people have offered compassion and assistance to those affected, like those who literally opened their doors to victims in the aftermath of the attacks. However, of course our government has taken the exact opposite route and have used the attacks as an excuse to spew hatred towards muslims and, especially, Syrian refugees. There was Donald Trump with the brilliant (and highly unconstitutional) ideas to close all of the mosques in America and REGISTER ALL MUSLIMS IN A DATABASE! Yes, that’s in all caps because that is literally how the Holocaust began and no one in America seems worried that the person who is winning the Republican primaries is seriously advocating for that.
Even forgetting all of Trump’s crazy, fascist ideas, there are many others in our government who are using the attacks as a reason to attack muslims. 31 governors, including our own (Massachusetts rocks! (not)), have said they are not going to allow Syrian refugees into their states. First of all, if any of them looked at the law, they would know that they simply cannot do that. Second of all, it is believed that NONE of the Paris attackers were Syrian. In fact, at least 7 of the 8 attackers were Belgian or French. If politicians actually did research, they would know that if we do not want to let terrorists into the country, we should ban all French and Belgian citizens from entering, not the Syrians. While the events in Paris were horrific, the vast majority of ISIS’s victims are the Syrians themselves. By stopping the flow of refugees, we are not preventing ISIS from entering America, we are stopping Syrians from escaping ISIS, which will ultimately lead to even more deaths. While America has taken this cruel and illogical response, the actual victims of the attacks, the French, have actually announced they will accept MORE refugees next year. So please, before you violate the Constitution and basic human rights, read Wikipedia for five minutes and have a heart.
I find it very disconcerting that the people charged with leading our country are subject to proclaiming the simplest of human flaws: overreaction. Sure, if you are a simple civilian who has heard of a terrorist attack, due to the unfortunate trends of media, you will have the knee-jerk reaction of blaming Muslims and denouncing the Middle East. However, given a few minutes to calm down and collect oneself, the initial anger, abhorrence, and tension will cease and cooler minds will prevail. I find people such as Donald Trump a bit of a disgrace to the human race and especially to the American people. How can you publicize your overreactions to everybody in the world? The fact is that yes, there are risks involved when dealing with terrorists who will cross lines and do things that we cannot avoid with morals and ethics. However, a potential leader of a nation that prides itself on setting an example for the rest of the world should not fall victim to such low emotional reactions.
ReplyDeleteI disagree on your point of accepting 30,000 refugees in the United States. We are not required to bring over people displaced by violence that we are not heavily involved in, and it costs millions of dollars to transport and house these refugees. I do agree that Trump's idea to treat Muslims at second-class citizens is unacceptable. The idea is fascist in nature, and it sets a deadly precedent. If we allow this to happen to Muslims, then who is to say that other Americans don't receive the same treatment?
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, that the attitude towards refugees in America can border on Fascism. While one can have their own viewpoint on the allowance of refugees into this country, it shouldn't be based upon racism as it seems it is with someone like Donald Trump. The idea that we should register all Muslims into a database is unconstitutional and racist but also somewhat similar to the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany. Although I hesitate to draw parallels between a 2015 GOP politician and a Nazi State, as they are obviously different situations, it is somewhat scary to compare them.
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