At the Council, we are adding to the ways we connect with you. And so today, we offer the short video below on the Christian response to both terrorism and refugees. As you will see in the video, the Council joins with those who believe we must continue to welcome our refugee sisters and brothers who are fleeing exactly the kind of violence directed at them that we saw in Paris a week ago.
The Council has also made available an Advent devotional guide focused on the plight of refugees that can be downloaded here.
As people of faith whose beliefs are grounded in a child born to displaced parents, we must heed the call to welcome with compassion, to protect the vulnerable, to share what we have with those who have nothing.
Immigration in Three Minutes: How Should Christians Respond to Recent Terrorist Attacks? from NC Council of Churches on Vimeo.
Well said! Although most Christians, including myself, are not ready to turn the other cheek to a literally mortal enemy, we must strive to be able to discriminate between someone who is likely to be a true enemy vs. someone whose only resemblance to that enemy is their country of origin or their style of dress. There is always some risk in doing that as opposed to outright rejection of strangers based on very superficial factors.
What we have to be mindful of, however, is that there is ultimately more risk in doing the latter. An attitude of fear and hatred will breed fear and hatred in others, and will eventually alienate/create far more potential terrorists than we would risk by allowing refugees into our country.
Thanks for bringing to readers a topic that will cause most of the Western world to do a lot of soul-searching in the next few years.
Excellent message