Duck Dynasty and the World, Part 2: Syria

[This is the second part of a 2-part piece 3-part piece on the response of Christians to the Duck Dynasty situation; the third part is now the prayer for peace for Syria, Gaza, South Sudan, and North Korea.]

When I think about the attention given to the Duck Dynasty response, though, the thing that upsets me is how often the news discusses it before Syria.  An actual war with significant consequences for religious freedom for Christians in the Middle East is bumped so we can discuss whether an actor - who likely has a contract provision allowing for his suspension in circumstances just like this - is being persecuted because his employer is suspending his presence on TV (not even his primary income source) after insulting members of the audience.  

I’ve wanted to discuss Syria for the past few days. I started these blog posts long before Phil whats-his-name destroyed the internet – or at least my Facebook feed. I can’t stand what I see as the indifference people have towards the situation facing my friends and their families. 

Before I go further, I feel the need to explain a little about Syria to combat stereotypes people may have in their head. Like Lebanon, Syria has actually been a pretty safe country for Christians, on the relative scale of persecution of Christians world wide – or the relative scale of the persecution faced by minority religious believers in most states, including Muslims in Christian-dominant states and atheists and agnostics in a slew of states.  But back to Syria… Christians are a smaller part of the population than they are in Lebanon – about 10% for Syria while Lebanese Christians are almost 40% of the population there - and the Christians in Syria face dire consequences from this conflict. Christians are targeted by multiple sides in the conflict there, and if extremists win the war, Christian refugees may feel completely unable to return.

But all of that is one small part of the story in Syria. 

I’ve never been to Syria, but I have been lucky enough to end up with amazing Syrian friends, both Muslims and Christians. So when I think about Syria, it’s their faces I see.  It’s their families I think about.  It’s their communities I pray for. Their whole communities.

The last few days my mind and heart have been pre-occupied with those friends, and the people in Syria who are unable to leave and find safe refuge elsewhere.  The situation in Syria is grave. For those who would flee, though, the situation in Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan may be just as bad.

There's been snow on the ground in the refugee camps, and the winter is expected to get worse.  The tents in the camps, though, are not made for snow - or for the extreme cold.  There aren't enough mattresses for people - or enough food and supplies.  

This, of course, encourages some people to stay in dangerous situations. If the options are living in danger in a place they know or living in danger in a place they don’t, many are likely to choose the former.  In Syria, that often means staying in cities where they risk dying of starvation.  Or dying from barrel bombs. Or from the cold. Or just dying -because they don't have the means to live.

The scene sounds like something out of The Hunger Games, minus the televised audience and the potential for one person to win food and a reprieve for their entire community.

I've been thinking a lot about the snow in Syria and the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Snow changes things.  

The temperature in my parents’ house is set at 71F/21.6C. Outside the house, the ground was covered by several inches of snow and ice until it rained last night. If the house dips to 69F/20C here, I can feel it. It means the timing mechanism on my parents’ heating had kicked in and I have to go fix it. I wear warm-ish clothes – sweatshirts and thick socks – and I have blankets wrapped around me. Right now, an electric fireplace is running nearby. Yet, when the snow is on the ground, I can feel those two degrees of difference. 

In the UK summer, 20C (69F) feels just fine to me. I would like it to be 22C (72F), but I’m okay with it being 20. In the Cleveland winter, 69F (20C) makes me reach for hot chocolate. It makes me find another blanket and turn up the heat a little.

Snow changes things.

What must it feel like, then, for the refugees who live in tents and sleep on mattresses in below freezing temperatures?  

1.4 million people will live in the refugee camps. 

Another 7.6 million will spend their winters in need in Syria itself. They will survive - or not - based on the provision of international aid.

Some read the stories of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and think, “Not our problem.”  Or worse, “there but by the grace of God…” 

But, it’s not the grace of God.  It’s a political choice.  It’s a political choice by the international community.  It’s a political choice by the US.

Why must refugees sleep in tents not designed for the cold?  Because Western leaders, amongst others, aren’t willing to offer resettlement options to those in need.  Because we won’t fund the UNHCR’s response in a meaningful way that would allow for something better than what is being offered.  Because it’s easy to get distracted by the shiny, sexy things of war – chemical weapons; and disputes at the UN – rather than think about the individuals on the ground, who have fled and who need us to be their neighbors, to serve them as Christ served us.

There are one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon (there are also Palestinian refugees that predate the Syrian ones). One million Syrian refugees.  It’s only 1/9 of the Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance, and yet it represents 1/4 of Lebanon’s total population. Lebanon only has 4.425 million people, but it is being asked to house one million of its neighbors in need of help.

In comparison, during the last financial year and according to data from the UN, the US granted asylum to approximately 25,300 (p. 46) while our July 2012 population was 313 million+.  So, we granted asylum to refugees representing .008%** of our population while Lebanon is housing refugees that make up 1/4 of its population. 

We also granted resettlement to some people – allowing them to apply to enter the country as refugees.  We almost doubled the number of asylum grants with refugee resettlement.  58,238 in 2012. In total, while Lebanon took in a million people, the United States – whose national pride takes the form of a statute that literally says “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free” – we took in 83,538 people.  That’s .0266% of our total population.  

We're not alone in our pathetic response to the Syrian refugee crisis - many other countries share the blame.  But we share it, too. Globally, the world rejected almost twice as many applications for asylum as they offered. 438,000 claims were rejected but only 261,900 people were granted asylum. (p.46)  

At a time when the global humanitarian crisis was at an all-time high, we – as an international community – rejected 2x as many claims for asylum as we granted.

When we do this to other human beings, we are leaving them impoverished.  In turn, we impoverish ourselves. 

Albert Einstein, Marlene Dietrich, Sigmund Freud, Hannah Arendt, Bela Bartok, Frederic Chopin, Victor Hugo, and former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki were all refugees. The US also has two former Secretary of States – one Democrat and one Republican – it gained from granting refugee status: Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger.

We lose something when we leave people like this behind – when we care so little about those in need. We lose the potential, but we also lose ourselves, and we lose our faith. 

The book of James says “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” 

I know this passage raises issues for Christians – a debate over whether you can be saved by faith alone or need works to be saved.  That misses the whole point of the passage, though.  James isn’t discussing how one obtains salvation – yes, he uses the word ‘saved’ but the totality of what surrounds this passage indicates it’s not about salvation per se, but about what true faith means.  Faith should be motivating for us. And what does faith call us to do?  It calls us to love.  To love God and to love our neighbor. 

When we fail to offer refuge to those in need, we have failed to love. And when we fail to love, we have failed to show faith.  We have failed to live by faith. 

It’s easy to want to bomb something in the hopes that stops the war.  That’s a one-and-done kind of “service.” It’s cheap and easy and doesn’t require us to follow up. It allows us to wash our hands shortly after we’ve bombed people.

True love, though, isn’t easy.  And true love is what the Church is called to do.  

True love stretches beyond race or religion or ethnic identity.  True love is grand and encompassing.  True love means opening our borders to those looking to resettle.  And not for a ridiculously small 83,000 people.  We should love big – love strong – and open up our arms to really, truly help people. During the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, we should be looking for ways to find Syrians to bring into our communities.  Anything less than that is not worthy of claims that we act in Christ’s name.

A friend of mine - a Christian from the Middle East - wrote the following, and I want to use it as the start of my prayer for Syria:

This Christmas I sincerely hope that nativity scenes will not be baby in the manger but the holy family as asylum seekers to Egypt... 

Yes, next time you hear demonization of asylum seekers as 'illegal migrants', do remember.. Christ and his family were asylum seekers who entered Egypt illegally fleeing for their lives after baby Jesus' birth. 

I pray that we remember how connected we are to the plight of those seeking asylum. We need to pray for those who are there in Syria - who are fleeing, and who are staying.  We need to pray that we become better advocates for them, and that we speak out more frequently on their behalf. We need to pray that we become better at responding to this crisis.  We pray for those in refugee camps, and those who, because of the conditions in the refugee camps, are staying in Syria.  We pray for those who are starving in Syria, and those who are freezing both in the camps and in Syria. We pray for our leaders, who decide who and how many to let into our borders in the midst of crisis.  We pray for those working in aid agencies and for the Red Cross and Red Crescent, that they are protected in their work, and are able to reach those most in need.  We pray that their coffers overflow with the funds necessary to alleviate suffering.  And we pray for peace.  For a durable, honest peace that impacts all the way down. That we encourage and facilitate that peace.  That we truly love the Syrians, and that we demonstrate that love in all we do.

** When I first typed this, I made a mistake and said .0008% but it's just .008%.

Update:  I always enjoy moments when I agree with my friend Matt.  This is one of those issues, so I'd encourage those still intent on defending Phil - and those interested in Chrisitan thoughts on this - to check out his post here.