There once was a country that was built by convicts (imported from Great Britain) - I'm referring of course to Australia. In modern history, Australia has received immigration from some 200 countries (many of them refugees who fled war-torn nations). With a straight face, its non-native elected officials (one look at their ancestry and you see a long list of Anglo Saxons from Britain) are claiming that illegal refugees are overrunning the country. Some even have convict stock, amusingly they deride refugees fleeing persecution. Australia might be boasting about the amount of illegals drowning on its doorstep (due to its archaic laws), but it should be a warning to us all: remember how your country was built. Imagine Canada turning away from its shores, the mass exodus from the Irish famine in 1847.
The United States has been a beacon in accepting all, but now faces a crossroad - its inner Australia is coming out with the illogical fear mongering of illegals. The native Americans aren't the ones calling for blood, it seems people of European stock are losing their minds over people from elsewhere. I'm calling on all the countries that gave us the long list of presidential candidates to take the ones back that have cold hearts. Those that add religion into campaigning should be all for illegals - we all know what Jesus would do. You either have compassion or you don't, the blatant racist comments about wanting the 'right kind' of immigration can stay in the library of rose tinted-glasses.
All you can do is yawn when hearing that most gruesome acts are committed by those from opposite cultures to us (just who are the famous 'us', those that created Messrs Breivik, Bryant, Koresh - I hope not). They have these weird customs and cultures not akin to us, last I checked parents fear 'creepy white men' (on sex offender lists) more than those escaping hardship - I could be wrong! I can just envision an extreme candidate rise-up and declare all non-native Americans to leave the Union, I wonder how much air-time they will receive?
History is full of examples of nations taking in persecuted people. Just as undesirables today are often advertised as 'dark people of a certain faith', the past unwanted were fair-skinned Christians of the German, Swedish variety. What's interesting is that bigotry is now coming from children of migrants. The grand child of an Italian who fled World War II, is now wanting to send back downtrodden refugees. It seems well-to-do folk are obsessed about everyone going back to where they came from. Get ready Minnesota, you're about to lose plane loads to Scandinavia! We need to cut the simple scare tactics, no one chooses their country of birth, however we can choose to have kindness and decency towards our fellow human being.
Another well-worn argument is: why don't wealthy nations such as those in the Gulf play their part? While we would hope they would make more of an effort in a humanitarian crisis, we can't use that as an excuse to ignore our so-called Western mentality of our compassionate commitment to protect the less fortunate. Although playing hardball during trade negotiations can be a start, maybe it wouldn't hurt mentioning that human rights needs to be respected before buying their oil.
I get that people seek comfort in those who preach to the converted, hopefully independent minds will win out. It is wrong to hate someone on the basis of where life's lottery has taken them - whether it be in the country of their birth or the circumstances dealt to them. Do we have enough guts to rise above ignorance?
The United States has been a beacon in accepting all, but now faces a crossroad - its inner Australia is coming out with the illogical fear mongering of illegals. The native Americans aren't the ones calling for blood, it seems people of European stock are losing their minds over people from elsewhere. I'm calling on all the countries that gave us the long list of presidential candidates to take the ones back that have cold hearts. Those that add religion into campaigning should be all for illegals - we all know what Jesus would do. You either have compassion or you don't, the blatant racist comments about wanting the 'right kind' of immigration can stay in the library of rose tinted-glasses.
All you can do is yawn when hearing that most gruesome acts are committed by those from opposite cultures to us (just who are the famous 'us', those that created Messrs Breivik, Bryant, Koresh - I hope not). They have these weird customs and cultures not akin to us, last I checked parents fear 'creepy white men' (on sex offender lists) more than those escaping hardship - I could be wrong! I can just envision an extreme candidate rise-up and declare all non-native Americans to leave the Union, I wonder how much air-time they will receive?
History is full of examples of nations taking in persecuted people. Just as undesirables today are often advertised as 'dark people of a certain faith', the past unwanted were fair-skinned Christians of the German, Swedish variety. What's interesting is that bigotry is now coming from children of migrants. The grand child of an Italian who fled World War II, is now wanting to send back downtrodden refugees. It seems well-to-do folk are obsessed about everyone going back to where they came from. Get ready Minnesota, you're about to lose plane loads to Scandinavia! We need to cut the simple scare tactics, no one chooses their country of birth, however we can choose to have kindness and decency towards our fellow human being.
Another well-worn argument is: why don't wealthy nations such as those in the Gulf play their part? While we would hope they would make more of an effort in a humanitarian crisis, we can't use that as an excuse to ignore our so-called Western mentality of our compassionate commitment to protect the less fortunate. Although playing hardball during trade negotiations can be a start, maybe it wouldn't hurt mentioning that human rights needs to be respected before buying their oil.
I get that people seek comfort in those who preach to the converted, hopefully independent minds will win out. It is wrong to hate someone on the basis of where life's lottery has taken them - whether it be in the country of their birth or the circumstances dealt to them. Do we have enough guts to rise above ignorance?
