Welcoming Strangers.
Let us look at this problem in a more rounded way.
There is now something like 70.8 million displaced people in
the world. That is, people running away from
war, persecution and terrible conditions. The population of the UK is around
that number.
One could probably comfortably
fit the entire population of the UK into California and would still have 49
other states left to populate. (There are eleven States of the USA that have
greater land area than the UK. California is equal to 1.74 UK’S.) At the moment
of my writing Turkey is hosting very many refugees. Turkey has a domiciled population
of around 82 million. It is currently
hosting around 4 million refugees. Then there is Lebanon, a tiny country with a
population of just over 6 million, currently hosting around 1.5 million
refugees.
The USA has a population 327.2 million, but please remember the
vast land area. The USA probably has, according the UNHCR,
been the biggest recipient of refugees.
The other mistake that people often make is that these refugee
people are coming to “take” from you/us - wherever their new country of
residency is – anything and everything that is free. Over and over again that fake news is
propagated in the UK in the right-wing press, when in reality such people
contribute more to the UK tax coffers, often more than the average UK citizen.
I personally am aware of people who came to the UK with nothing, not speaking
the language but have created jobs and employment and contributed to the wealth
of the UK in a great way.
Again, on the whole subject of socialism, please read my
spiel on that. You might be surprised to know that the USA was the great
innovator as far as socialism was concerned. http://adrianhawkes.co.uk/?s=Socialism
But let me then look at it from another angle. Who are we? I am referring to people who are Jesus
followers. We are citizens of another Kingdom. Our job is to seek the Kingdom
of God on earth, i.e. to be salt and light. To do this we are to speak to the
rulers and the power holders, calling them to account and seeking to bring to
the earth Justice, Peace, etc., for that is what comprises the Kingdom of God. So,
we have a great responsibility where there is injustice, unrighteousness and
the dehumanisation of people who are
made in the image of God. We are also
called to be welcoming people who are strangers. We are even called, if they
are our enemies, to love them!
As a follower of Christ, I do not believe there is “no answer”
to that 70.8 million. I am just Joe Blogs, but I can think of at least three
major answers. One at least I did manage to get the UK upper house to discusses.
However, talking is not action. I also
remember the invitation to the UN to talk about refugees and asylum seekers
there, where I said that people of faith are the ones that must get their hands
dirty, if looking after people means to be solution providers. We are trying
and are currently housing around 30 and providing carers for another 20 foster
children. That to me seems a very small
contribution, and I plan for us to do more.
I am of the opinion that the UK, and the USA whilst doing something
can do more and better. I think holding people who are running away from
persecution and war should be treated with kindness and care and not, as in the UK, placed in Yarl’s
Wood Detention Centre, for indefinite periods (The UK is the only European
country that has no time limit on how long one can be kept in detention), or have
children placed in overcrowded centres on the USA boarders.
Adrian Hawkes
Blog 11.11.19
W. 648
