Saturday, November 28, 2015

Turning Away Refugees

It's hard to believe a Democratic in the House of Representatives, a person who once attended the same church as I, would vote against the Syrian refugees.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-blake-byrne-syrian-refugee-bill-20151123-story.html

But it's true.  She and seven other CA Democrats voted for HR 4038, "legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States."

Julia Brownley got elected to the school board in Santa Monica, where she didn't even answer my email when I had a problem with Santa Monica High School.  In 2003 my daughter Marie had a truly dismal teacher for US History, but the school wouldn't let Marie move to another classroom.

We fought for two months until finally the Supervisor of the district met with John and me and Marie and the principal, and Marie was allowed to change to a class with a decent teacher.  Two years later the incompetent teacher's contract was not renewed.  The wheels of justice turn slowly.  

In that case, justice came about with no help from Julia Brownley, who somehow became a member of the Assembly in California and then, moving to Ventura County, was elected to the House, where she still appears to be either without compassion or more interested in getting reelected than in helping victims of the war in Syria who need to relocate to another country.  

I'm guilty of contributing $25 to her campaigns once or twice.  I'm sorry.

Philanthropist Blake Byrne feels the same regret on a larger scale; he wrote to Brownley and seven others like her, as well as to the the LA Times.


"...Reelection at the expense of the Syrian refugees is not worth reelection, " he wrote.

If you live in Thousand Oaks or anywhere in Dictrict 26, contact Julia and ask her to rethink her position on the Syrian refugees.

See also this website, which lists the 92 places where the Bible tells us to welcome the stranger/sojourner/refugee ("ger" in Hebrew).  www.G92.org

Examples: 
"For the LORD your God is God of gods... who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing" (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).  

"There shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you" (Exodus 12:49).

If you live in the districts of Scott Peters (San Diego), Pete Aguilar (Redlands), Ami Bera (Elk Grove), Jim Costa (Fresno), John Garamendi (Walnut Grove), Janice Hahn (Los Angeles), or Raul Ruiz (Palm Desert), please contact them and urge them to rethink their position in light of the Bible's teaching.

Strangers were not usually welcomed in Bible times.  This teaching is counter-intuitive but compassionate.  

Let's do the right thing as a nation.  We took part in the destabilization of the Middle East that has turned patriotic Syrians into refugees.

It's our duty to allow these people to resettle here.

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