How should we love our neighbor? Should we love our Syrian refugee neighbors by bringing 10,000 into this country, as the President has decided? Or should we love our American neighbors by prioritizing their safety, keeping out many true refugees in order to exclude extremists?

Since the Paris bombings, there has been heated rhetoric on both sides of this issue. Both sides have cited Scripture to support their positions.  Some have engaged in name-calling, labeling those they disagree with bigots or un-American. Unfortunately, both the President of the United States and Republicans trying to be President have been among those doing the name-calling.

How can we cut through the inflammatory rhetoric and respond biblically? Here are a few guidelines:

First: Acknowledge that there are legitimate arguments on both sides (as on most public policy issues). The US government does have a primary responsibility to protect its citizens. And the US surely has a responsibility to help resolve a crisis which is in part the result of our own past policy failures.

Second: Do your best to ignore the strident voices and the political talking points. Instead, seek out and listen to those making calm, rational arguments – especially those making such arguments from a different perspective than your own. As Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” If this was true 3000 years ago, how much truer today in the age of social media, in which we often never hear from “the other,” but simply like or re-post those statements that agree with our preconceptions? Here are a couple of links that I have come across that are indeed calm and rational. Note that they disagree with each other – but they marshal arguments for their position and don’t denigrate those who disagree with them: 3 Tips For A More Civil Conversation About Syrian Refugees, Myths vs Facts in the Syrian Refugee Issue

Third: In your interactions with others, keep repeating and acknowledging key, indisputable facts that are often ignored. Here are some on this issue:

1)      Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, a couple of thousand Syrian refugees have come to the US, and they have been model refugees.

2)      The present vetting mechanism for Syrian refugees coming to the US is a lengthy, laborious process, completely unlike the process of gaining refugee status in Europe. Whether or not one of the terrorists responsible for the Paris attack entered Europe as a refugee is irrelevant to refugee policy in this country.

3)      Islamic terrorist groups are looking for ways both to radicalize American Muslims and to bring foreign terrorists into this country.

4)      The FBI Director and the Secretary for Homeland Security have both acknowledged in recent weeks that there are special challenges in ensuring that Syrian refugees pose no threat to the US.

5)      After 9/11, the refugee program was put on hold for a while and procedures reviewed and revised for the safety of the country. Eventually, the program was improved. In the end it was both larger and more secure than before those attacks.

6)      Prior to 1980, refugees in the US were resettled in a completely different way, with much more local participation and control. There is nothing sacrosanct about the present method of refugee resettlement.

7)      The bill that passed the House of Representatives does not stop Syrian refugees from entering the country, but directs the FBI Director and the Secretary for Homeland Security (along with one other official) to certify that the vetting process for each refugee protects American safety. One quarter of House Democrats voted for the measure.

8)      Whether the US admits 10,000 Syrian refugees or none is at most a minor blip in resolving the Syrian crisis. (About one out of every twelve persons in Jordan is a Syrian refugee. The US would have to host 27 million refugees to achieve the same proportion.) Regardless of what happens on US refugee policy, other major initiatives are necessary.

Fourth: Focus on the bigger picture, and help others to see that picture. Consider two aspects of this bigger picture:

a)       The bigger public policy picture. Focus on the major issues, the greatest dangers, not the minor issues. (Note that both political parties often try to direct your focus to minor issues where they think they can gain support.) Ask questions such as: What mistakes have been made in US policy toward Syria that have led to the huge number of refugees? What can be done now to slow down that flood? What can we do to resolve the Syrian civil war? Some have been asking these bigger questions, even including a few politicians – see for example these press releases from Senator Dan Coats (first, second). This article (authored in part by Paul Collier, an economist I know) is an excellent example of out-of-the-box thinking on how to resolve the bigger issues. An excerpt:

An effective refugee policy should improve the lives of the refugees in the short term and the prospects of the region in the long term, and it should also serve the economic and security interests of the host states.

Jordan offers one place to begin. There, a reconsidered refugee policy would integrate displaced Syrians into specially created economic zones, offering Syrian refugees employment and autonomy, incubating businesses in preparation for the eventual end of the civil war in Syria, and aiding Jordan’s aspirations for industrial development. Such an approach would align the interests of a host state with the needs of refugees. . . .

By understanding refugees as not only a humanitarian challenge but also a development opportunity, states could do much to sustainably improve the lives of the dispossessed. To suggest that the displaced could contribute to the cost of their own care is not harsh: refugees are already voting with their feet for self-reliance.

b)      The bigger spiritual picture. God is fulfilling all His promises. He is fulfilling the promise to Abraham by bringing those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation to Himself – including those from the many Syrian peoples. Throughout history He has moved in the midst of tragedies and wars to glorify His Name and to pour out saving mercy on millions. He is doing that today. We have an opportunity both to display and to proclaim the love of God through Jesus Christ to those suffering loss and hardship. May we, the church of Jesus Christ, live out His mandates, loving Him and loving our neighbor, for His glory, for our joy, and for the joy of all peoples.