By: Dale Weckbacher
Joshua 9:14-15
Then the men of
Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.
15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them
live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
NKJV
The Gibeonites were able to make a covenant with Israel
through deception (Joshua 9:1-15). It
was not until after making the agreement that Israel discovered the deception
(Joshua 9:16). However, since an
agreement with them before God had been made they could not attack them and
instead subjected them to forced labor, which they agreed to out of fear of the
Lord’s command to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land (Joshua9:17-27). Fast forward to our present
time and we see something that closely parallels this biblical event, the
contemplation by the leaders of many nations of the free world to accept
refugees from Syria into their countries.
Whereas it is compassionate to assist people living under
persecution from oppressive regimes and terrorist organizations, this does not
mean we must accept them into our nations for doing so will mean,
1)
Terrorists like those attacking Paris and most
recently in San Bernardino coming into the country posing as refugees in order
to carry out their acts of brutality.
2)
Increased fear and insecurity in the citizenry
of our nations resulting in potential retaliation by some and fear of
conducting their lives in a fashion they have become accustomed to for
others. In the United States, our
Declaration of Independence says that among the inalienable rights granted by
the Creator on His creation are the right to life and the right to the pursuit
of happiness. (1) However, a citizenry living under the threat
of brutal terrorism as demonstrated in Paris and San Bernardino is deprived of
its right to pursue happiness and in the event of an attack, some are deprived
of the right to life. It is the primary
duty of governments to protect the inalienable rights of citizens and therefore
a dereliction of duty for them to endanger the citizenry by making a path for
potential terrorists to easily enter the nation.
3)
As with Israel, once a nation reaches an
agreement to open up its borders to potential terrorists, it becomes difficult,
if not impossible, to reverse the damage that is done.
Recently U. S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump took heat
for his plans to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States
until we could determine who was entering the country. (2) Some Constitutional scholars argued that
banning people of the religion of Islam deprives them of their Constitutional
rights. (3) However, other Constitutional experts claim
the ban could be legal. This is because
Federal law and the Constitution give Congress and the President the authority
to bar foreigners from entering the country.
(4) In fact, Jimmy Carter banned Iranian
immigrants. (5)
This does not mean however, that we simply turn our backs on
the oppressed in Syria for there is another way for us to humanly protect the
genuinely oppressed from harm.
Presidential candidate Ben Carson recently visited some of the Syrian
refugees and discovered that many were not interested in leaving their
countries but had a desire to stay within save zones established in their own
countries. (6) In other words, there is no need to endanger
the lives of innocent people by bringing potential terrorists posing as
refugees into our nations. Instead, we
can establish safe zones within their countries and staff them with trained
military personal to ensure safety.
Potential terrorists posing as refugees represent wolves in
sheep’s clothing and are a clear and present danger to innocent people. If we are to learn any lesson from the
terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, it is that just a few terrorists
can murder many innocent people.
Temporarily banning immigrants from dangerous parts of the world is a
necessary step in ensuring the safety of innocent people until processes are
developed to properly vet these immigrants.
We have done this before and in my opinion, there is no
reason for not doing it now in light of the attacks in Paris and San
Bernardino.
1. ushistory.org. The Declaration of
Independence. www.ushistory.org. [Online] Ushistory.org. [Cited: July
19, 2015.] www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm.
2. Fox News.
Trump Doubles Down on Vow to Bar Muslims. www.foxnews.com. [Online] Fox
News, December 8, 2015. [Cited: December 15, 2015.]
www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/12/08/trump-calls-for-complete-shutdown-on-muslims-entering-us.html.
3. Melber, Ari.
Constitutional Scholars: Trump's Anti-Muslim Immigration Proposal is Probably
Illegal. www.msnbc.com. [Online] MSNBC, December 7, 2015. [Cited:
December 15, 2015.]
4. Savage, David G.
Donald Trump's Proposed Ban on Muslim Immigrants Could be Legal, Scholars Say. www.latimes.com.
[Online] The Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2015. [Cited: December 15,
2015.] www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-muslim-ban-legality-20151214-story.html.
5. Berry, Dr. Susan.
Flashback: President Jimmy Carter Banned Iranians From U.S. www.breitbart.com.
[Online] Breitbart News, December 9, 2015. [Cited: December 16, 2015.]
www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/12/09/flashback-president-jimmy-carter-banned-iranians-u-s/.
6. Bradner, Eric.
Ben Carson: Refugees Want to Stay in Syria. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN Politics,
November 29, 2015. [Cited: December 15, 2015.]
www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/politics/ben-carson-jordan-trip-syrian-refugees/.
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