“Give me your tired, your poor,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
Perhaps we should sell the Statue of Liberty back to France. With the coming of the next Administration we, obviously, won't be needing it anymore. We no longer represent the message in the inscription. We no longer are the welcoming beacon of liberty.
As I was growing up in America in the 1950's and '60s, one of the things that made me most proud to be an American was what the Statue of Liberty represented. A symbol to the world of the freedom from tyranny and oppression that was waiting for them here in America, the land of the free and the brave.
Patriotism is defined as devoted love, support, and defense of, and loyalty to, one's country. As much as anything else the Statue of Liberty, and what it stood for, was a source of my patriotism. Because of what the lady with the torch represented I was proud of my country and proud to call myself an American.
But now we have a President who has vowed to turn away the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The homeless refugees from the war torn middle east, innocent victims of oppressive regimes, radical terrorism, and religious conflict, many with nowhere to turn. Instead of being the shining beacon offering refuge America is now to become just another oppressor to those seeking refuge from the darkness of despair. This is such a stark change from the America that was built, in great part, by those who came before to seek a better life.
Yes, I understand that things are different now. I understand the argument that some of the people who come might be terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. But, how many more terrorists are we going to create by turning every Muslim away? How many more terrorists are we going to create by adding each Muslim's name to a registry? How many more terrorists are we going to create by the ethnic profiling of Muslims? How many more terrorists are we going to make due to Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric giving carte blanche to every racist xenophobe across the land to harass, physically attack, damage property, and all around abuse the many Muslim citizens who have had to endure these things in recent months?
The Bible says, in Levitcus 19:33-34, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself....", yet it is the members of the conservative "Christian" movement who seem to be so fervently supportive of Trump, including his plans to discriminate against people of Muslim faith. I have come to the firm belief that, for the conservative "Christians", whatever is in the Bible is good, so long as it supports Republican party ideology. If it doesn't, then it is best to ignore it.
I am retired from my 40 year career as an educator, but I now work at a "retirement job" at a test center where people come to take examinations to certify or be licensed in various professional careers and areas of specialization. Some of the people who come to test at the center are Muslim. I have found them to be gracious, polite and respectful. Wonderful people. In turn I always try to make their experience at the center a pleasant one, treating them the way that I would want to be treated if I were to be in their shoes. I wonder how much more effective we, as Americans, and as Christians, would be in stopping terrorism if we made it our priority to treat our Muslim brothers and sisters, especially those huddled masses yearning to breathe free, with love and respect, welcoming them and providing for them the way that we would want someone to do for us if we were in their shoes.
Just maybe, that might be one of the ways that we really could Make America Great Again!
