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The Champion, Thursday, December 17 - 23,2015 OPINION
Are we no longer the home of the brave?
The recent mass killings
in Paris and San Bernardino,
Calif., have put many in our
country on edge and again
pitted Americans against
each other in hotly contested
debates over immigration,
gun control and refugee ad
missions policies.
We have read and heard
voices of condemnation and
voices of support on the sub
ject of admitting Syrian refu
gees into our country.
Some say the vetting
process is not comprehensive
enough to weed out possible
terrorists from entering the
country under the guise of
a refugee, which is entirely
possible. Anything is pos
sible.
Some say Syrian refu
gees are no less of a threat
than fellow Americans now
known as homegrown ter
rorists. This is also a distinct
possibility.
There are others who
johnh@dekalbchamp.com
Chief Operating Officer
quote statistics of the num
ber of Americans killed an
nually by fellow Americans
and others who will quote
stats of crimes commit
ted by refugees. Some will
quote statistics of crimes
committed by those of the
Muslim faith. Whatever one’s
preferred position on these
topics is, there are statistics
that can be manipulated to
support it.
What troubles me is how
a national tragedy has so
deeply divided our nation.
We hear those who profess
to be of good moral charac
ter saying it is acceptable to
refuse assistance to others in
need because they might be a
danger to our society.
We face a multitude of
dangers every day of our
lives. An unhealthy lifestyle
is dangerous. Driving in
Atlanta traffic can be danger
ous. Participating in sports
can be dangerous. Guns can
be dangerous. We can’t live
our lives in fear.
I’m certainly no bibli
cal scholar but at an early
age I was taught the book of
Psalms and specifically chap
ter 23, which reads in part
“Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil.”
Ironically, many who are
against our federal and/or
state governments allowing
refugees from Syria seem to
be more of the religious per
suasion and most arguments
that support curtailing the
influx of refugees are based
on fear—fear that the refu
gees will bring harm to our
nation.
How is it that people can
allow fear to influence their
decision-making processes to
the point that they can justify
inhumane treatment of oth
ers based on their fears? How
can logical people think it is
acceptable behavior to dis
criminate against an entire
group based on the actions
of few?
I’m a product of the rural
South—what many would
refer to as the Bible belt. I
was taught compassion for
others. I was taught to help
anyone in need in any way
possible. I was taught to trust
everyone until they prove
that they can’t be trusted. I
was also taught to do unto
others as I would have them
do unto me.
Somewhere along the
way, many of our fellow
Americans have allowed fear
and hatred to guide their
thoughts and actions. Some
would willingly discriminate
against others because of
fear.
Discrimination of any
kind is unacceptable. Limit
ing, or completely denying,
immigration into our coun
try based on national origin
or religion is absolute dis
crimination.
Our national anthem
ends with these simple words
“the land of the free and the
home of the brave.” It’s time
we allow others to experi
ence the freedom that we
have and that they deserve.
It’s also time for us to be
brave enough to put aside
our fears and open our
hearts.
= ONE MAN'S OPINION =
'Fire! ready, aim 7
“The San Bernardino, Ca
lif. attacks were about guns in
the same way that 9/11 was
about box cutters,” quipped
radio newsman Tim Bryant,
WGAU-AM/FM, Athens,
Ga, host of Georgia’s Morning
News on his Facebookfeed.
We may not yet know the
entire nature of the threat
which we face, but it is com-
ing-and the threat is not
firearms.
The state of California
has some of the most re
strictive gun laws in our
nation. Background checks
are required on even private
casual sales. The detail and
information required in the
California background check
exceeds existing federal stan
dards. Stockpiling ammuni
tion is not illegal anywhere
in our country, and the two
assault rifles used in the San
Bernardino attacks were
legally purchased, at a Cali
fornia retail location, nearly
three years prior to this mass
shooting. These weapons
were illegally modified, one
more successfully than the
other, to operate as automatic
weapons.
It is both ironic and fac
tual that jurisdictions with
the strongest laws aimed at
restricting gun access and
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
Columnist
ownership, often have the
highest rates of murder and
illegal gun use. Just take a
look at modern-day Chicago
and the average of 50-60
homicides each month, four
times the number of fatalities
in California. And if guns are
outlawed, only outlaws will
have guns.
There is a myth, well cir
culated and off repeated on
the Internet, that America is
an island awash in guns and
the related blood and vio
lence, and that private own
ership of guns is an anath
ema in the rest of the western
world.
The Graduate Institute
of International and Devel
opment Studies in Geneva,
Switzerland, periodically
conducts a global small arms
survey. The most recent
study results were gathered
in 2014, providing an esti
mate of the total number of
known civilian-owned guns
in each surveyed country, per
100 residents.
The highest reported rate
is in the United States, with
112 weapons per population
of 100, but coming in fourth
(and potentially as high as
second place factoring in
the survey’s margin of error)
is Switzerland itself, at 45.7
guns per 100 residents.
Like the Georgian who
used his body to block and
protect others in the recent
California attacks, and who
lost his life as a result-I
would like to think much
like the brave Americans
aboard United Airlines Flight
93 which crashed in rural
Pennsylvania on 9/11-that if
caught in a similar situation,
I would not simply stand by
and await slaughter.
It is a time for lifting
our heads from our phone
keypads, or the tablet app
or game, and paying atten
tion. A time for getting to
better know our neighbors
and providing warmth, hos
pitality and respite to those
who may appear uninvited or
sequestered.
Having many friends
and acquaintances who are
Muslim, and particularly
Israeli Muslim I contend
it is time to gain a broader
understanding of their faith.
It has as many branches and
sub-sects as does Christianity
or even the Roman Catholic
Church...and not all’ should
be held accountable for the
horrific choices and actions
of a few.
Our nation has never
won a war, and even very
few battles, with knee jerk
reactions. But, time and
again, with preparation,
planning, support for our
military, development and
delivery of weaponry and at
times intelligence second to
none, America has prevailed.
There would not be a France
today, as we know it, without
the Allied forces storming
Omaha and the other beach
es of Normandy, 70-plus
years ago. We understood
then that keeping Nazi and
Japanese soldiers from our
soil would also require taking
the battle to them, in both
theaters of war, at great cost
and at the same time. The fat
and happy, fast food America
of today is not long on sac
rifice or pain. There is no
painless way to protect all
that we know, love and care
about. Drones and air sorties
alone will not keep us safe.
Not that I am advocating
putting a 38 in your ado
lescent’s stocking for your
holiday gift-giving opportu
nity of choice, but I am sug
gesting that now would be a
good time to sit down with
the family, and have a chat
about what happens in the
event of a natural disaster or
sudden attack. Where would
you all go or meet up? If
the electrical grid was taken
down, instantly ending most
electronic communication,
how would you find each
other? Forewarned is fore
armed.
Bill Crane also serves as a
political analyst and commen
tator for Channel 2’s Action
News, WSB-AM News/Talk
750 and now 95.5 FM, as well
as a columnist for The Cham
pion, Champion Free Press
and Georgia Trend. Crane is
a DeKalb native and business
owner, living in Scottdale. You
can reach him or comment
on a column at bill.csicrane@
gmail.com.