Syrian Refugee, Prejudice or common sense?
@Robert57 (71)
Adrian, Missouri
November 16, 2015 4:30pm CST
My question of the day: What would you do if a Syrian Refugee moved next door to you?
Within the definitions of prejudice falls the answer.. and..the question.
My immediate family is quite small these days, what with the kids grown and moved away, but I still have my wife and I to think about. I put myself in this hypothetical situation when I was reading about the Paris murders.
Suppose a family moved into the house next door? Would I look at them as fellow Humans having been uprooted by Evil or as Potential Terrorists?
Would I stay awake all night with one hand on the phone, the other filled with weaponry? Would I sleep at all well knowing they were cleared by a government not known by its, err, clarity of thought?
What are your thoughts? Is it prejudgment or paranoia To ponder these bad thoughts?
6 people like this
10 responses
@BethieAnnie (818)
• Dayton, Ohio
16 Nov 15
Most people don't know this, but the US has been taking small amount of refugees for years. I know this because I do have refugee neighbors, and trust me their stories are grim. I treat them with respect, and they treat me with respect. These refugees are from Iraq, though, and not from Syria. My neighbor is a woman with children, she didn't just run from Iraq, she ran from her husband, too. It is so sad.
6 people like this
@marguicha (215441)
• Chile
16 Nov 15
I remember a wonderful movie by Clint Eastwood: Grand Torino. When we overcome our prejudices we can open ourselves to a relation with more human beings.
Any neighbor can be a serial killer, if we get paranoid. It doesn´t matter if he is a devout cruch goer and very much an apparent christian.
4 people like this
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
17 Nov 15
Oh man I know what you're saying. There's some Christians living in our neighborhood. Never know when they might start that "crusade" business again. 
3 people like this
@allknowing (130064)
• India
17 Nov 15
Danger lurks not necessarily just when refugees make their presence. I would be as vigilant as I always am as one can never trust anyone these days,. I have known those who share a cup of tea and then kill the host.
1 person likes this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
17 Nov 15
That is exactly what scares me so bad in this situation Judy, The way the Government sets up these things places mediocre people in charge of dealing with such an important assignment. If we did our jobs in a similar fashion we would be fired very quickly and with nothing but a bootprint to show for it.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
18 Nov 15
The government is not clearing them, though. Hey if a family moves in next door, I wouldn't worry so much. It's not wrong to consider how you would feel, despite the fact that everyone is going to call you intolerant, etc. If the governments were doing their jobs, then we wouldn't be hearing that a third Paris terrorist was a refugee from Syria.
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
17 Nov 15
it would be natural to be cautious but I would give them any new neighbours a welcome unless they gave a specific reason to view them with suspicion
