The government this
morning has ordered a stop to all immigration into the United States by
Catholics.
Citing “continued Catholic-Protestant violence in Ireland and
England” as well as ongoing disclosure of attacks on young children by Church
officials, DRK Security Chief Howard Johnson also told reporters at a press
conference at the Washington Immigration Center in Washington D.C that the
House was also expected to vote today on a program to require all Baptists in
the U.S. to register with the federal government, providing information on
their places of worship, family members and jobs.
“We know that two
recent shooting, as well as the Oklahoma bombing were initiated by people
claiming to be Baptists, so we feel it’s important to build this registration
to better monitor the flow of Baptists throughout the U.S. and abroad. Homeland
Security personnel will be fanning out across the U.S. to register members of
churches, and we will be setting up registration centers at all airports and
bus and train stations in areas heavily populated by Baptists,” he added.
According to GOP
candidate Donald Trump’s spokesperson Donna Wannabe, Homeland Security is also
investigating a similar registration program for Presbyterians.
“It may be,” she said,
“That the registration of Presbyterians is the biggest piece of this increased
security program. Those Presbyterians have infiltrated nearly all walks of life
in Americaa, are a low-profile group and could be the biggest threat to our
security.”
OK. OK. Ridiculous. But that’s the slippery slope we are
finding ourselves on right now. Should we make sure any immigrants/refugees go
through a careful vetting before they can stay here? Of course. Are they? Of
course . . . a process that can take around 2 years. Should we constanly work to make it better? Of course.
So while the overall “risk” of allowing Syrians into the
U.S. is fabulously small, we’ve let the entire discussion spin out of control
to the point where we are talking about registering people based on their religions.
Think about that for a minute. Then try to think about it if you were the one
being told you had to register. Not because you’re a bad person . . . you may
be the head of a major corporation or government agency or any may hold any number
of other honest or high-profile positions in the business or social world . . .
but now you have to register because . . . solely because . . . of your
religion.
Where the hell is the outrage with that?
Why are not church officials from every religion in the
world standing up and screaming about what a horrible idea this is? Why are not pro-gun groups, which pretty much hate anything having to do with registering anything, standing up and screaming about the Constitution and what a horrible idea this is?
This is where we find ourselves now. Let me note it again. We
are entertaining the idea of registering people not because of any bad behavior
or known risk, but based solely on their faith. Now, folks, it may or may not
be a faith with which you happen to agree, but does that matter? Why aren’t we
talking about registering Scientologists? Or Hindus and Buddhists (two
religions continually immersed in violent conflict in India and the Far East)?
Or Palestinians of all ilk since they seem to like to blow things up?
Stop it. Just stop it.
Stop feeding your visceral mind and start feeding the mind
that actually can design and implement programs that actually work and don’t
include government guys showing up at your church to take your name and address.
Yes, your church. Think outside your comfy little box.
As a friend pointed out, this is not the 1800s and perhaps
we shouldn’t be so embracing of the huddled masses are we were then (though
history shows us we weren’t all that embracing of everyone). He’s right . . .
this is a much different, more dangerous world. A world in which people can
travel here and there easly and inexpensively.
But these arguments are simplistic and short-sighted.
The much greater risk is from those already here. They are
the shooters and the bombers we’ve seen in the past here . . . the people that
shoot up a mall, blow up a women’s clinic or kill dozens of people in a school.
The risk is from within, whoever those people may be.
Let’s maybe start a reasonable dialogue so I can get the
image of Jews getting dragged from their homes . . .
ISIS and other groups are a danger to us. But are refugees?
Hardly. Politicians are cowards and afraid to risk going against any tide they
feel well lose them their cushy jobs. Like many things, I believe I could grad
12 friends take over a conference room for a couple of hours and come up with a
plan . . . a plan that keeps our doors open to those refugees who pass through
our vetting process (which is come 1 percent of those who start the process)
while culling those of higher risk . . . like travelers to those “dangerous”
regions, like the Middle East (like Syria and Iraq) or Africa (like Nigeria).
Reasonable?
Think about this . . . we want to tag all Muslims in the
U.S., citizens or not, and we’re arguing over allowing perhaps 10,000 Syrian
refugees into the U.S. when, at the same time, we let some 70 foreign visitors
into the U.S. every year.
70 million.
We currently have the best screening system of any country
in the free world. Let’s not muddle the arguments on these issues with the
extremism spouted by some politicians. If we have an issue, then let’s fix it.
Calling refugees “rabid dogs” or registering people based on their religion
(funny how the war on Muslims is OK, but God forbid we should demand all people
be served in a restaurant or bakery) is racist and hateful.
Without getting all soft and fluffy, we are better than
that. But if you see a growing number of brown shirts popping up around you,
you might want to take a measure of yourself and your beliefs.
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