Our Legacy

America was founded by people escaping oppression or seeking opportunity.  Some were escaping religious oppression, some political and some the oppression of poverty.  Of course some were brought here against their will and were oppressed by those wanting to be free, but that's a different story.

From our earliest days when we considered the country wide open and we accepted if not actually welcomed immigrants.

As immigrants changed from Western European to Southern and Eastern European and Asian the earlier "true" American felt the country was be degraded.

If fact the Irish weren't exactly welcomed during the famine.

Yet immigrants and refugees kept coming and it was so much a part of our history that we have a statue commemorating it.

Recently we see a backlash against certain immigrant groups, our Mexican friends to the south and our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Now we have always had a certain issue with our Latino neighbors, (see Westside Story) and its based on a sense that we are somehow better than them.

Our issues with our Muslim brothers are a bit more entrenched.  While much of their religion is similar to Christianity it isn't viewed that way.

Also due to political developments dating back centuries, we find ourselves in conflict as we defend the rights of Israel against its Arab neighbors.  I should note that Judaism and Islam bear similar relationships to Christianity in that we all effectively worship the same single god.

There are other political issues related to oil, and oppression as well as a belief that Western Culture is corrupt by some, so the complexities go on and there are revolutionary and terrorist groups active in many of those countries.

The majority of the people simply try to live their lives and many have fled to escape the violence.

These refugees are looking for a better life and while of course they consist of all sorts of people, they are mostly people in trouble looking for some place to be safe.

There is no real evidence that the refugees have a link to terrorism.  Turning our backs on people n need is a mean spirited in-American and in-Christian thing to do.

Sadly that's what we are doing.