Opening your arms to refugees best way to fight terror
Dear Editor:
So a guy at the pub tonight snidely asked me if I had room for a Syrian refugee at my house.
I do.
In all honestly I hope this hypothetical Syrian is a “military aged” single man. He can have my bed … I’ll take the couch.
Tomorrow, we’re going to wake up, and I’m going to show him America. We’re going to drink beer and watch sports. I’m going to show him where I work. I’m going to find him a job. I’m going to show this Syrian my home in West Virginia … I’ll explain its history and why I love it. We’ll look at Civil War memorials and I’ll explain that his past isn’t much different than mine (while showing him the cannonball entries on a church less than a mile from my house).
I’ll explain how my grandfathers were immigrants who mined coal and built railroads.
I’ll show him the beauty this country has to offer. We’ll check out my family’s farm on Spring Creek. I’ll take him to the New River Gorge. I’ll promise him a canoe trip down the Greenbrier river.
Hell, next week I’ll even give this guy a high powered rifle. It’s whitetail season … deer hunting is awesome and he should experience that. I bet this guy loves deer jerky (who doesn’t?)!
…Maybe we’ll do that after we watch the West Virginia Mountaineers beat up on Kansas. I’ll share that with him too. I’ll even teach him how to “high five” and yell “America! YEAH!” when things go our way.
I’ll teach this guy about barbecues and the St. Louis Cardinals (By Jan. 1, my Syrian friend will tell you why Stan Musial is the greatest baseball player of all time, and why Willie McGee should be in the Hall of fame). I’ll help him set up a cell phone plan that gives him awesome access to ESPN’s fantasy football app … and then laugh at him when he drafts Peyton Manning.
I will make him my friend.
I will introduce him to my family, my girlfriend, my loved ones.
I will ask him where he came from. Who he cares about. What he wants in life.
I will listen.
I won’t be scared of him.
I will help him.
If he was a “potential terrorist” I bet he’s not anymore. Because America is awesome. I will show my hypothetical Syrian friend that.
If opening your arms to refugees isn’t the best way to fight terror, I don’t know what is.
Matthew Detch
Lewisburg