By: Dale Weckbacher
Joshua 14:8-9
Nevertheless my
brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly
followed the LORD my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying,'Surely the land
where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's
forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.'
NKJV
Joshua was a great leader not because of his own abilities
but because he wholly followed the Lord.
Joshua 14:8-9 implies that he valued his relationship with the Lord
above being popular. As I look at the
dangerous world in which we live and leaders more interested in their own
popularity, I yearn for a Joshua to rise up and lead our nation.
As a reaction to the brutal terrorist attacks in Paris, many
governors in the United States have vowed not to let any of the “refugees” from
Syria into their states. (1) This
reaction is due to the discovery of a Syrian passport on one of the terrorists
in Paris. These governors are
demonstrating their desire to protect the citizens they lead from an attack
similar to what occurred in Paris.
Opponents to the decisions of these governors cite that
turning away “refugees” somehow goes against the values of the United
States. (2) Determining whether they are correct or not
requires defining the values of United States, so, let us take a moment to
determine these values.
The founding documents of the United States, The Declaration
of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution, outline the values of the
nation. The opening of the Declaration
of Independence says the following.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. (3)
This statement in my opinion states the
values of the founding of the United States so let us take a closer look at
this statement.
1)
The founders believed in
the equality of the creation of all mankind and that upon their creation, the
creator endowed them with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. They did not believe
government gave people their rights and explains why when they sat down to create
the Constitution, they formed a federal government with divided and limited
power. The Constitution also assigned
the federal government with the duty of protecting the aforementioned God given
rights of the citizens. (4)
2)
The rights stated here
are not, in my opinion, in random order but in order of importance. The right to life is foundational for if a
society lives in fear for their lives, it cannot have liberty to pursue
happiness. In addition, if an oppressive
government threatens the liberties of the society, the society cannot pursue
happiness.
Unfortunately, in our pleasure seeking
society, people often focus on the pursuit of happiness while ignoring threats
to their life and liberties. This is why
we must not, in the pursuit of happiness ignore the threat to life posed by
allowing Syrian refugees who may include terrorists into our nation for they
represent a real threat to the right to life of citizens.
President Obama has recently stated that
allowing these individuals into the nation is in line with the values of the
nation. (2) His
reasoning is that the United States is a nation of immigrants and should open
its arms up to anyone desiring to enter the nation in order to escape
oppression in their homelands. However,
before allowing any immigrant into the nation, we must insure they are not a
threat to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of citizens
already living in the country.
We now have discovered that the perpetrators
of the horrific attacks in Paris entered the country posing as refugees from
Syria. (5) In addition, ISIS has stated its intention to
enter the United States posing as refugees.
(6) In addition, the FBI director has stated that
it is impossible to vet those entering the United States from Syria due to a
lack of information to enter into any database.
(7)
I therefore conclude that to open up our arms
and let these individuals into the United States presents a threat to the lives
of U.S. Citizens and as such threatens their liberties and pursuit of
happiness. In other words, to let these
individuals into the country is not in line with the values of the United
States, but is in violation of these values.
I urge everyone to contact his or her
representative, his or her senators, and the President of the United States
expressing your concerns on this issue.
Tell them that they must not allow this issue to become politicized, making
it a serious threat to our national security.
Let us as a nation learn from the French and
not allow a slaughter like the one we saw in Paris to happen in a U.S.
city.
1. Byrnes, Jesse.
More Than Half of US Governors Oppose Refugee Resettlement. www.thehill.com.
[Online] The Hill, November 17, 2015. [Cited: November 19, 2015.]
thehill.com/policy/national-security/260388-more-than-half-of-us-governors-oppose-refugee-resettlement.
2. Aljazeera.
Obama: Blocking Syrian Refugees Goes Against US Values. www.aljazeera.com. [Online]
Aljazeera, November 18, 2015. [Cited: November 19, 2015.]
www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/obama-blocking-syrian-refugees-values-151118050322637.html.
3. ushistory.org.
The Declaration of Independence. www.ushistory.org. [Online]
Ushistory.org. [Cited: July 19, 2015.]
www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm.
4. OnPower.org.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights. www.onpower.org. [Online] [Cited:
September 10, 2013.] http://www.onpower.org/crises_constitution.html.
5. Yahoo. Some
Attackers Used Refugee Crisis to Slip into France. news.yahoo.com. [Online]
Yahoo. [Cited: November 19, 2015.] news.yahoo.com/attackers-used-refugee-crisis-slip-france-pm-200055808.html.
6. Hohmann, Leo.
ISIS Smuggler: 'We Will Use Refugee Crisis to Infiltrate West'. mobile.wnd.com.
[Online] WND Front Page, September 4, 2015. [Cited: November 19, 2015.]
mobile.wnd.com/2015/09/isis-smuggler-we-will-use-refugee-crisis-to-infiltrate-west/.
7. Datoc, Christian.
FBI Director: It's 'Impossible' To Vet Every Single Syrian Refugee (Video). dailycaller.com.
[Online] The Daily Caller, November 19, 2015. [Cited: November 19, 2015.]
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/19/fbi-director-its-impossible-to-vet-every-single-syrian-refugee-video/.
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