Refugees 

Refugees (1)

Refugees ... running from war, poverty, persecution ... have been on the headline news everyday around the world, for quite a few years ...
The crisis in Syria has definitely made the situation worse, with the number of refugees being in the millions now ...

For every person who watches the news: the nagging question has no straight answer:
What can countries on whose doorsteps the refugees are lining up do?

How many a time have I thought about it, and how many a time have I asked people for their opinions,
But every answer I got might solve one part of the problem, only to create another one,

So I’m going to put political correctness aside, to look at this issue from opposing perspectives,
Perhaps reason and compassion can combine, 
After all, compassion can be the very outcome of reason,

Some research suggest that humans, and in fact all animals, are “wired” to be compassionate,
So perhaps it is the case that humans have learned to mute the call of compassion in their minds, by some reasoning that they have learned,
In which case more reasoning will be needed ... in order to reopen the gates of compassion.

I’ll never forget the news footage that I saw of a French woman, who lived all her life in that town on the coast of the English Channel, in a pristine and idyllic place,
Every day, she drove from one point to another ... enjoying every moment and every scene, perhaps wishing that life never ended ...

Suddenly that town, its streets and beaches ... were swamped by migrants trying to cross the Channel to Britain,
The view of their misery, poverty, homelessness ... was a shocking reminder to that woman, and all the residents of that town, and indeed all of France ... that nothing can last forever,

“I am not cruel or lacking empathy, but why me, my town and my country ... it is not my fault that these people are misfortunate, they are fighting one another in their country, and those migrants come from both sides of their divides ...” 
These are the thoughts that cross every person’s mind that lives in Western countries these days, and Western peoples and politicians cannot agree on an answer ... perhaps because there isn’t one

 

Refugees (2)

This is a serious problem for Western countries, whose economies are struggling, and whose welfare and medicare systems are stretched to their limit,
And if those refugees are left just to camp somewhere and work illegally ... they’ll be living in poverty, and will be tempted by crime ... of all kinds,

And we shouldn’t be surprised that some people are nervous about terrorists being amongst them, waiting for an opportunity to strike,

And neither should we be surprised that some feel that their countries should not welcome such huge numbers of Muslims, many of whom seem conservative, and would want to practice their rituals ... and in the future: implement their laws,

As COB has expressed it many times, Muslim nations aren’t seen by the world as a role model in any way, and wouldn’t want to copy their laws and traditions,

Besides, all people of religion generally aren’t comfortable with the idea of multi-religious societies, 
Muslims themselves are unwelcoming to other religions in areas and towns which are exclusive to them, and let’s not forget how uncomfortable Western women are made to feel if they had to live in conservative Islamic countries ...

This mutual unwelcomeness creates tension, wherever people of different religions have to mix,

And although in the Middle East different sects and religions have lived for many centuries side by side, let’s not forget that the friendship between them is only superficial,
They do not mix socially, there is political disaccord between them, and their history speaks a lot of past wrongs and conflict,

So all these artificial barriers between people, which have been created by belief systems ... stand between them,

But despite that, we have seen that many Westerners were able to overcome those barriers, and let their natural compassion drive them,
They opened their doors, they got involved in helping refugees, and they continue putting pressure on their governments to do more ...

 

Refugees (3)

As COB has expressed it many times, whether the conflicts of the Middle Ease are the result of international conspiracies or not: it is up to the peoples of the Middle East to defuse them and live together in harmony,

It is up to them to forget the past and look forward to a prosperous and peaceful future,

But as long as their religious authorities keep issuing judgements on behalf of their gods, and making decisions on who should live and who should die, and which piece of land belongs to who and who should be thrown out of their homes:
The situation in the Middle East will only get worse, and the deterioration is accelerating really fast now ...

And this is not a god’s decision, it is only the natural consequence of the deeds and the passions and the religious beliefs of the peoples of the Middle East,

From this standpoint I really can’t see that the world powers are the culprit,
However, I hasten to say, that world powers have indeed taken advantage of the time old hatred between the various religious and ethnic groups of the Middle East, and even though their policies concerning that area are only making the situation worse: they do not want to stop ...

Let’s face it, industrialised countries find the Middle East as a great opportunity for business ...
Weapons, technology, and services exports .... and of course redevelopment of devastated cities, not to mention the biggest oil reserves of the world which happen to be there ... pour much needed funds into those economies which have been struggling for a long time,

Yet the short sightedness of the leaders of the West, whose main interest is to score the highest approval rating, narrows the vision and limits their options,

The democratic system of the West needs a complete overhaul, and if the West is not prepared to make the necessary changes in their system: the exploitation of world conflicts and poverty will continue to fire back at the West,

And this is bad news not just for the West but indeed the whole world,

So for Arabs, to say: the refugees have fled their countries because of the West’s policies is only partly true,

From this standpoint, yes the West does have a moral responsibility,
But the question remains: how can this moral responsibility be carried out practically?
Because as mentioned in a previous post, if the doors of Western countries are opened wide to every refugee ... Western countries will have a series of new problems to deal with ...

 

Refugees (4)

I will not try to explain logically or chemically ... or from an evolutionary point of view ... why humans make friends and why they are compassionate to complete strangers ...

Not because I don’t have the data to support any line of argument that I can follow, and neither because I don’t have an academic institute to back me up,

The way I see it, friendship and compassion is a human spirit, and is not driven by chemistry, evolution or financial and strategic benefit,

Once you’ve moulded it in one of those moulds, you’ve stripped its essence from it, and reduced it to an ideology and perhaps a mundane law:
In which case, it will have an antithesis, by the Law of this world,

Worse still if you say it is the commandment of a god, who will reward humans if they act compassionately and in a friendly way with one another,

And why should any action that we do or any feeling that we feel ... have some benefit that can be measured ... whether here on earth or in some presumed heaven,

I say this, while completely aware of the interdependence of people on one another ...

And with the financial crises and environmental issues which do not recognise borders, in the back of my mind,

But this should not be the line of reasoning,

From a historic perspective, it looks as if humans have taught themselves to narrow the scope of friendship and compassion to the group or groups of people ... who have been recognised by their religions and ideologies ...

At the present, these separations are firing back ... at everyone,
And human ideologies have to evolve ... to a stage where these separations are removed from human minds and the practical steps are made ... to move forward in this direction
 

Refugees (5)

Compassion is the spirit which is capable of overriding the political, religious, cultural, racial ... barriers between the peoples of the world,

And indeed the way to come out of the divisive frame of mind, which has been causing constant misery and strife,

And if anyone is still incapable of recognising the Good that is above local good, compassion is the approach to it,
Because it prepares one’s heart and mind to give everyone the same right to exist and express themselves ... as everyone else,

Local good has its role to play, in building personal and social entities ... while the Good is universal Law of the world,
And the two-way street between the two is the natural law,
When this is broken, peace and prosperity are not evenly distributed, and they can’t last long



 


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