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Balancing Fear and Compassion The ongoing refugee debate and our reactions to it creates an interesting conflict between fear and compassion. Even as a trained and experienced professional in the helping occupations and a spiritual practitioner in a belief system that has harming none as the core belief I have conflicting feelings (Please note I said feelings, emotional reaction not conclusions, logic reaction). Experience has taught me that neither is 100% accurate and reality lies somewhere in the middle. Using my logical, reasonable side I know it is ridiculous and wrong to think we can judge an entire group of people by the actions of a few extremists. As I said on a comment the other day if this were true most of us would have abandoned SFF. But people have been attacked killed and injured close to home by individuals who belong to an easily recognizable group. My self-preservation and “Mama Bear” instincts kick in. Although I know logically it has little relevance I to check the to make sure I have amo for the shot gun and make a mental note that I am due for a session at the range. I try to put myself in the place of the majority of refugees and find 99% desperation, fear and hope. I try to put myself in the place of those who lost family and loved ones or the first responders to the carnage and I want to push the red button for the nukes. The difficulty is that neither extreme is valid and reality is very evasive. Perhaps that is what war is these days – confusion. I am reminded of an incident that happened to me years ago around the time of the first Gulf war. My family and I were camping near the Cascades on the Oregon / Washington border. I don’t remember the exact number but there are 7 – 8 waterfalls in a small area. Our goal was to hike up or down each one. One required a mile or so climb, basically straight up. There was a trail that most people used. My husband came up with the idea that he would go up “cross country” and surprise the when we reached the top. I continued herding the along the trail. I was dressed in the outdoor clothes my husband got me for serious camping and hiking, military surplus BDU’s and sturdy boots. As the and I rounded one of the sharp turns in the trail we suddenly came face to face with a Middle Eastern woman, head scarf and all, with her on the way down. Both she and I sort of jumped back, startled and wide eyed with fear. Then it became one of those moments when we both simultaneously had the same realization, that we were just moms with our out enjoying nature. We had nothing at all to do with the political and spiritual conflicts and raging in another part of the world. In our humanness we were essentially the same and certainly no threat to each other. Ah, if it were only so simple. I am grateful that the Universe did not chose to put me in a position of having to make critical decisions and that like all of us all I have to “do” in understand and manage my own reactions. Spiritwoman ^i^ |
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12/14/2015 11:17 am |
Hi Spirit: Last week we had the first arrivals of the 25,000 Syrian refugees that are coming to Canada. All the support and encouragement and offers to help that they received at the airport from so many Canadians was so touching. It really made me proud to be Canadian, and when I saw our Prime Minister there to greet them I thought that was amazing. These people have fled their war torn country with just the clothes on their backs and have spent years in refugee camps, yet they all had such kind words and gratitude to Canada for helping and welcoming them here. Gawd forbid Spirit, but what if the U.S. or Canada was reduced to rubble in some future war? Let's just hope some country would welcome us there and not hate us because we dress differently or for our religious beliefs.
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12/15/2015 7:13 am |
A lot of the support for Syrian refugees in Canada comes from small towns. The reasons seem to be that they want to increase their population, as well as fill empty jobs. Organizing their reception in small towns seems to be easier than elsewhere because everyone knows everyone else, and so who to go to for resources such as housing, clothing and jobs.
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12/15/2015 7:38 pm |
Hi Spirit: Last week we had the first arrivals of the 25,000 Syrian refugees that are coming to Canada. All the support and encouragement and offers to help that they received at the airport from so many Canadians was so touching. It really made me proud to be Canadian, and when I saw our Prime Minister there to greet them I thought that was amazing. These people have fled their war torn country with just the clothes on their backs and have spent years in refugee camps, yet they all had such kind words and gratitude to Canada for helping and welcoming them here. Gawd forbid Spirit, but what if the U.S. or Canada was reduced to rubble in some future war? Let's just hope some country would welcome us there and not hate us because we dress differently or for our religious beliefs. Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 7:43 pm |
Sometimes it isn't fear, it is common sense. If one Chevrolet in a hundred might veer off the road and kill you and twenty other people, would you buy a Chevrolet? Probably not, right? How about if it was one in a thousand? No, you wouldn't buy one and the reason is common sense. What you WOULD do is make sure they didn't sell ANY Chevrolets because it is the common sense thing to do. Fossil God Save America !! Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 7:45 pm |
I don't think hand outs were foremost on their minds when they left home but I do have to admit opportunity probably enters into the decision about where to resettle. Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 7:48 pm |
Balanced viewpoints comes from many years of having to negotiate agreements for dysfunctional families. That can be even more tricky than negotiating world peace. Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 7:53 pm |
I am sure the situation is much more of a problem in Europe because it is physically much easier to get there. A lot of the problem folks are no doubt weeded out before they can come to the US or Canada. I wonder if Mexico and other South American countries will take many refugees? illegal immigration from these countries are already a problem here. Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 7:59 pm |
Hard work to find the real truth these days. It takes reviewing info from sources with opposing views then sifting through it all to find the common threads and true facts. Spiritwoman ^i^
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12/15/2015 8:03 pm |
A lot of the support for Syrian refugees in Canada comes from small towns. The reasons seem to be that they want to increase their population, as well as fill empty jobs. Organizing their reception in small towns seems to be easier than elsewhere because everyone knows everyone else, and so who to go to for resources such as housing, clothing and jobs. Spiritwoman ^i^
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