Although Rick Tone’s Sept. 11 letter (“We cannot become swamped by a tidal wave of refugees”) began encouragingly by recognizing the severity of the Syrian refugee crisis, his concluding statements exposed his empathetic ramblings as a pretentious sham.
Only Stephen Harper has taken a “measured and balanced” approach on this issue, with his action of… Of what, Rick? You never stated what his action is. Because you can’t. There is no action, other than expediting the original commitment of 10,000. The exponential increase of fleeing refugees dictate a more serious response.
You even have the audacity to claim that opposition parties and your fellow Canadians that have responded with compassion to the immediate need of these people so desperate for a helping hand, are doing it to “score political points” and are just “Harper-haters.”
When our government responded to the compassion expressed by so many Canadians, and rescued so many of the Vietnamese boat people, were we “overwhelmed by that tidal wave of suffering humanity”? The Vietnamese people have become upstanding contributing Canadians, so richly adding to the beautiful fabric of our multi-cultural society.
Your desire for Canada to callously turn its back on the suffering of tens of thousands of our fellow human beings will absolutely guarantee that so many more will end up dead, face down on beaches. Another 28 just today, while you “pause…to think about it.”
I think most Christians are open to that most human quality of empathy. Their actions of reaching out a helping hand to those in need, wherever they may reside on this Earth, attest to that. But you (and Stephen Harper) subscribe to that most unsettling brand of fundamentalism that is cold, judgmental and so devoid of empathy.
If only there was something that could be done to liberate you from the intolerant and judgmental confines of your cold-hearted brand of fundamentalism, and unshackle your heart to the true experience of empathy that knows no bounds. But there is not. For fundamentalism, by its very nature, is closed and unreasoned.
Let’s be honest, Rick. Isn’t the reason you (and Harper) don’t want these people here is because they are Muslim? Why else the decision that the few we take will come from the minority communities (i.e.: Christians)?
Dennis Edney, the lawyer for Omar Khadr, singularly spoke the truth when he stated that Stephen Harper is a bigot and he doesn’t like Muslims.
Yes, bigotry, Rick. Discrimination of any kind (including your favourite peeves, religious differences and sexual orientation), is bigotry. And bigotry is always based in fear and ignorance.
This is one planet, Rick Tone. We all came from the same place. The facade of culture (and religion) is merely the cloak we don by the dictates of geographic locale and era of our birth. We are all one people.
Perhaps one could just pity you as a frightened and ignorant little man if your intolerant fundamentalist beliefs weren’t so potentially devastating to so many people. But intolerance, wherever it may raise its ugly head, must be exposed and opposed. Shame on you, Rick Tone!
Jimmy Borisenko
Tagish Lake