A comment I posted awhile back on an old coworker's Facebook page after she shared a Paint Art map of the continents with a comment about how refugees fleeing Syria should just "go back home."
Hey Amy! I don't know Kathleen, but I am so surprised by her post. For starters, the borders on the map she shared are not countries. Then, and assuming Kathleen is from America and NOT Native American, her ancestors fled their home country for a better life when they came here. And lastly (and this part is long, but necessary), if you haven't seen photos of the towns in Syria, I strongly urge you to do just that. They have no homes left. Never mind that women are enslaved, raped, and brutally beaten; families destroyed, people tortured, and children... well, children are dying in senseless attacks on civilian communities. Again, I don't know Kathleen, but if she is a mother, I hope she would want better for her children. I would hope, if she had the terrible fate to have been born and grow up herself in this type of environment, she would exhaust any and every measure imaginable to fight for the safety, security, and freedom of her children. Even if that means putting them on a boat or trekking across the country on foot into the complete unknown. These families are fleeing the reality at home into completely foreign and unknown territories because whatever they may face in their destinations would be nothing in comparison to what they are living day in and day out at home. The conditions they have left are unfathomable, the struggles unimaginable, and the journey inconveivable. We have it so nice here at home, I think it is easy for many of us to not comprehend the fear these people must live in endlessly. But I have to tell you, when pictures of Aylan showed up in our media, all I could think about was my own son and what lengths I would go to in order to protect him and get him out of Syria. The least we can do is show a bit of compassion for their suffering. And, if we're going to post heartless, inaccurate maps and criticisms of the risks they endure to bring their families to safety, we can educate ourselves on the issues first. I don't know Kathleen, but I am highly, highly disappointed to know she is the kind of person whose uneducated opinion is shared with the masses and taken as gospel. What a shame.
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