Hi, I'm an atheist. Why is this relevant? Because probably over 40% of you readers already have a negative perception of me by just mentioning the word "atheist". Never mind the fact that the word shouldn't exist in the first place. Just like there's a lack of a word for someone that doesn't like strawberries or ice cream, there shouldn't be a word for someone that lacks a belief. I belong to one of the least liked group in the United States. A Gallup poll conducted in 2012 shows that people would choose an atheist presidential candidate last. Another Gallup poll done in 2015 shows a shift in that decision to choosing a socialist last (the 2012 poll didn't include the socialist option). We're distrusted right behind Muslims which scored 58 and 60 in the respective polls. Think about that. American's perception of how someone will lead a country changes unfavorable when that someone doesn't meet the characteristics that they know and hold dear to their realities. As an atheist and anti-theist I could've said that I was worried about the past 44 presidents being Christians because it didn't align with my views. But I wasn't. Being the minority as far as religions go, is something you get used to. And you're probably wondering why I said 44 presidents and not 45, well I don't consider Trump a Christian. I think he believes in himself too much to have room for another deity but that's a different article.
We as individuals tend to fear what we don't know. It's our nature and probably part of our survival. And if we don't fear what we don't know, then we're uncomfortable by it. Currently, we are experiencing a time that we should definitely put our fears and uncomfortableness aside for the well-being of humans. Atheists in America, are relatively safe. But there's another group that is not the norm in white suburban America. Another unknown or uncomfortable group that is dividing people's ideologies due to the vilification of their beliefs by the current administration and these people need help. Refugees suffer some of the same judgements that atheists suffer. Being part of the unknown and making people uncomfortable. The difference between an atheist and a refugee is that I will sleep comfortable in my bed tonight while a refugee have to battle many conditions just to stay alive depending on where that person is located. A refugee is a person that because of X, Y or Z reasons, is without a country. In the most extreme cases, like a country torn from war, they can't return to their country at all because they'll end up getting killed. So why is this even a question to our current administration about if we should help these people stay alive or not. And not only that, but why use fear to spread misinformation that these people are terrorist.
I’m appalled to see those in power using human suffering as a tool for their own political gain. Since taking office in January, President Trump and his administration, as well as many partisan news outlets, have used their bully pulpits to spread fear and misinformation about refugees. We must ask ourselves why do we have an administration that is using human suffering as a tool for political empowerment. To create a sense of fear? Do we scare that easily?
Listen, I get it, someone tells you that refugees are Muslims and you know that the terrorists of 9/11 used their religion as a cause for the terror they disseminated that day, you know that that religion was Islam, and you can logically think they're related, but it's a logical fallacy to arrive to the conclusion that because one person likes strawberries then all people like strawberries. Let's look at the facts shall we, a 30 year old study, tells us that not only the correlation of increase in refugee numbers doesn't positively affect the increase in crime but it tells us that it reduces the crime in some cities that have experienced an influx of refugees. Here’s another number, the odds of a fatal terror attack in US soil by a refugee is 3.6 billion to 1 per year, . Just a few months ago, Trump was talking about an attack in Sweden that never happened. This is to create a sense of fear in the American population. Let's look at Sweden's numbers, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter analyzed crime statistics between October 2015 and January 2016 and concluded that refugees were responsible for only 1 percent of all criminal incidents. The fear instilled in Trump supporters by Trump himself is such that they believe that refugees are a problem in every other country they are placed. People on Facebook will mention a huge increase in rape cases in Malmo Sweden and Frankfurt Germany. This is being perpetuated by right wing news websites. As far as the Frankfurt cases go, it's completely made up as The Independent reported. The Malmo accusations are also untrue as reported by the BBC: "Malmo, along with other urban centres in Sweden, has one of the highest levels of reported rapes in proportion to population in the EU, mainly due to the strictness of Swedish laws and how rape is recorded in the country. The rate of reported rapes in Malmo has not dramatically risen in recent years and has in fact declined from its peak in 2010, before the recent large increases in refugees."
When I started this piece I mentioned I was an atheist and here's something that might surprise you, I love this country. I love it so much that I signed the dotted line to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. And I say "it might surprise you", because for some reason people think that to be a patriot you should love god and country. Well I love country and its people. I also love the people that help us in every other country that we fight. This fear towards refugees and Trump’s ban on immigration, currently jeopardizes a program that is intrinsic in the safeguard of human lives. I'm part of Veterans for American Ideals and one of our goals is to push through congress the Special Immigrant Visa program that allows Afghan translators who were employed by the US government in Afghanistan and whose lives are now threatened, to resettle in the US. These people fought side by side with us and helped us to stay alive over there. Can we please return the favor now that every other terrorist living in their neighborhoods knows they helped us? Can we get them and their families out of a hostile country safely into the US? Can we be patriotic enough to admit that we put them in danger and be thankful they were there when we needed them and help them? To my conservative friends, can we recognize this? Can we recognize the unselfish help from these humans? Be it Christians, Muslims, Hindus, atheist, etc.? Can we help the people that helped us?
The problem with Trump's ban and his rhetoric is fundamental in that it lacks logic, sorry to say it that way, but there's no other way of saying that it's illogical. Sam Harris explained this best, he said, “we need to win a war of ideas with the Muslim world”, when we fight ideologies, these ideologies transcend borders and they transcend walls. With the internet we're seeing the radicalization of Americans, not refugees. So while we deny entrance to a family desperate for survival, these ideologies that we're fighting, make their way into the US anyways, and if there's going to be a terror attack, it's going to happen by someone other than a refugee. The ban is ineffective in stopping the spread of Islamism. We need to win a war of ideas and we need moderate Muslims in this society. We need to empower the reformers in the Muslim world like Maajid Nawaz, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, etc. We need to help them win this war of ideas and you don’t win it by putting a blanket ban against Muslims.
What Trump is doing is actually helping ISIS recruit more people. It shows the sentiment of a skewed America where we "hate" Muslims. They can see and feel that. I wouldn't blame a potential refugee that was denied entrance today to have hatred towards us and attack us in 10 or 20 years. The act of denying someone today will have implications in our future. We either accept someone that will become a successful member of our society as they turn into US citizens or we get a radical that will avenge the fact that we denied them entrance and their family ended up dead due to our actions. It’s also very important to mention that the refugee acceptance program is already strenuous and already has a rigorous vetting process that going through it might take someone up to two years to be fully vetted. Full process here
We must demand clarity and a cease and desist of fear mongering from the current administration in order to save some lives and appease the suffering of human beings. I can't fathom the idea of Christians in our great nation denying safe passage to people that will die if we don't help them. Rachel Held Evans said, “Perhaps if we start referring to refugee children as “fetuses” white evangelicals will care that they’re dying”, and she’s a Christian. It begs me to think if I, the atheist, misunderstood by all, am more compassionate than the regular "Christian American family" with Christian American values. If you're an atheist, you know the answer to that, but for my Christian Americans, can we be compassionate? Can we show the world how an America created by diversity doesn't care about a difference in beliefs? Can we overcome a fear that's unfounded? Can we do our due diligence and research the reality of the world with numbers, statistics, and studies. Not anecdotal information or feelings. We must step out of our biases and not accept the first google page that confirms our deeply held beliefs. We must have an open mind, and having an open mind is not just be willing to listen, but to accept the facts even though they contradict our beliefs and understanding of a situation. That acceptance of the new facts, makes the world of a difference. If you don't accept the new facts, then you don't have an open mind.
Penn Jillette said, and I’m paraphrasing, “The US is a great country but we have to stop acting like cowards, we have to stop acting like there is a Muslim terrorist inside every cupboard. We know terrorism is a problem, we know we have to protect our families, but people are inherently good. 7 billion people on the planet and about 7 billion of them are good”, this explains the statistics mentioned above and how the odds of a fatal terror attack in US soil by a refugee is 3.6 billion to 1 per year. He also says that as an atheist, Islam is wrong, just like Christianity is wrong, “I believe that like I breathe, but right now Muslims need our help”, and I’m going to change something he says to make it resonate with the majority of America, he said, “we have to make sure that when we’re screaming “there’s no god!” that we don’t scream it so loud that we can’t hear someone who is religious crying for help”, and I’m going to change it to, we have to make sure that when we’re screaming “this is a Christian nation!” (Adding the caveat that IT IS NOT), that we don’t scream it so loud that we can’t hear someone who is MUSLIM crying for help. Remember what it says at the feet of lady liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”. Should we mention that the original name for the statue of liberty is “Liberty Enlightening the World”?….Let’s do just that.
wow
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