I was pleased to see this statement from my auxiliary bishop, which included:
Instead of using this tragedy to scapegoat all refugees, I call upon our public officials to work together to end the Syrian conflict peacefully so the close to 4 million Syrian refugees can return to their country and rebuild their homes. Until that goal is achieved, we must work with the world community to provide safe haven to vulnerable and deserving refugees who are simply attempting to survive. As a great nation, the United States must show leadership during this crisis and bring nations together to protect those in danger and bring an end to the conflicts in the Middle East.
It is lamentable, but understandable, that US foreign policy has been caught up in the co-dependency that passes for international relations in the Middle East. Far more doubtful are the craven attempts to dial back the meager welcome of refugees in our land. Let’s remind leaders who eagerly wrap themselves in the mantle of Christianity of the Lord’s mandate in Matthew 25:35c
For those who do not know, scapegoating was invented in the middle east in very ancient times before Judaism as a way to literally remove sins. A village would attach its sins onto the goat and send it into the landscape where it would die of exposure. When the goat was dead it was believed the sins had died with it.
“Sending sins away” by sending them onto a goat is the literal understanding
of the term, ‘scapegoat’.
But most readers here would probably know this.