USA Should Welcome Syrian Refugees

Americans who are clamoring for refusal of Syrian refugees entry into the United States of America brings to mind an event that happened in USA history involving President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939 that is just as shameful as denying the Syrian refugees today.

"The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner most notable for a single voyage in 1939, in which her captain, Gustav Schröder, tried to find homes for 908 Jewish refugees from Germany, after they were denied entry to Cuba, the United States and Canada, until finally accepted in various European countries, which were later engulfed in World War II. Historians have estimated that, after their return to Europe, approximately a quarter of the ship's passengers died in concentration camps."

ref: Wikipedia article, MS St. Louis

"On May 13, 1939, the German transatlantic liner St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba. On the voyage were 937 passengers. Almost all were Jews fleeing from the Third Reich. Most were German citizens, some were from eastern Europe, and a few were officially "stateless."
The majority of the Jewish passengers had applied for US visas, and had planned to stay in Cuba only until they could enter the United States. But by the time the St. Louis sailed, there were signs that political conditions in Cuba might keep the passengers from landing there. The US State Department in Washington, the US consulate in Havana, some Jewish organizations, and refugee agencies were all aware of the situation. The passengers themselves were not informed; most were compelled to return to Europe."

ref: Holocaust Encyclopedia, VOYAGE OF THE ST. LOUIS

I had written these things over on Facebook. If you can, you should take a look-see and read the comments I received over there.

Today, many Americans want to refuse admittance of refugees into the United States of America. It is not unlike American attitudes of yesteryear. Please go on over to The Washington Post to read the article, What Americans thought of Jewish refugees on the eve of World War II.

As with the previous reference in regards to the MS St. Louis incident, I had also written this comment about American attitudes over on Facebook. And as with the previous reference, if you can, you should take a look-see and read the comments I received over there about American attitudes today being similar to those of the past.

SHAME on those people sharing xenophobic comments, messages, and memes that actually spread hatred of refugees fleeing their countries of origin (especially Syria right now) seeking to escape torture and murder by violent extremists. WWJS

Emma Lazarus was an American Jewish poet born in New York City. She is best known for "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; the lines of which appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The sonnet reads:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "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-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Before proclaiming opposition to Syrian refugees seeking sanctuary, I say: Think, people, think!
Please go over to Frontline Fellowship in order to read A Christian Response to Xenophobia.

I refuse to apologize for having the ability to think. Nor will I succumb to the sheeple who parrot Conservative prejudice, discrimination, hatred, and xenophobia.

I say loud and clear:

The USA Should Welcome Syrian Refugees