The Katie Chronicles, Julia Sugarbaker, Jr. Edition

We remodeled our house about four years ago and we did a good bit of research on the various updates beforehand. Even though we "cut the cord" last year, we have kept up an HGTV habit that formed during that reno year and we like to ooo and ahh (and eeww) over the various remodeling projects they feature. So Katie and I were watching House Hunters Renovation Collection and a couple asked their real estate agent to find them a house to buy that was even older than the 1970s-era house they had already toured. I talk to the TV as if the people can hear me so I said something to the effect of, "I'd think twice about wanting to go a lot older." Katie said, "Why, Mommy?" and I said, "Older homes have character but also lots of problems like wiring and plumbing that has to be replaced. It gets expensive to renovate at the level." Katie, right year old, my third grade child, said, "Yes, I agree. You want a place that looks older but is actually newer. It should just have that rustic *look*."

Refugees, Compassion, and Fear

Like most people, in the past few weeks, I’ve been giving some thought to my opinions about admitting Syrian refugees into the U.S. It strikes me first that compassion and helping those in desperate situations is a spiritual issue and Christians have been given some guidance on this.  Quite a bit, actually: 

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

(Matthew 25: 35 - 40)

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

(1 John 3:17-18)

There are others but I'll stop there. Helping refugees is such an important imperative in Christianity that 5 of the 9 NGOs helping with refugee resettlement in the U.S. are Christian. But isn’t it normal to feel fear about letting people into America from a country that has Muslim extremists in it?  I think that’s pretty normal, especially after what happened in Paris last week.  But not giving in to fear is a spiritual issue, too. The most common phrase in the Bible in both the Old and New Testament is "have no fear" or "do not be afraid."  We are called repeatedly to do the work of love and justice without fear.  That doesn’t mean, of course, that we abandon common sense precautions, but more about those in a minute. 

Helping refugees is not only the Christian thing to do, but it’s also pretty patriotic.  It’s so important to the American experience that it’s written on the Statue of Liberty: “"Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore./Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

But what about jobs? Won’t they hurt our economy, which is still struggling in so many places?  It turns out the answer is no.  Economists have found that refugees, even when they come in large numbers, have either a net neutral or net positive effect on the economy. They know this from studying the impact of 125,000 refugees from Cuba coming to Florida within a few months in 1980 (80,000 to Miami alone). There was no impact on unemployment. Yes, they got jobs, but more people mean more people buying things, which creates more jobs, and more people paying taxes. Plus, refugees and immigrants tend to start more small businesses.

I’ve also learned a lot about the refugee process this week and it strikes me that a terrorist who wanted to come to do harm in the U.S. wouldn't be the sharpest tool in the box if he choose the refugee process as a way to enter. Refugees don't get to choose where they are sent. They are assigned to a country and could easily get sent to Lebanon or Egypt instead of America. Our refugee vetting process takes up to 2 years so even if a potential terrorist did get sent to the U.S., he'd be waiting a long time. (There is a way to enter the U.S. that does deserve scrutiny and that's the number of countries whose citizens we allow to come in without visas for short stays. That is probably more porous than it should be).

But we already have, as a few Facebook posts have pointed out, homeless veterans and children.  What about them?  Since when did compassion become something we have to dole out only to certain groups?  Compassion is not a finite resource.  It’s a false choice to say we must choose between two deserving groups.  We can help both and we should.  

I think we are right to allow refugees from Syria to come to the U.S.  In fact, I think it’s long overdue.  If terrorists cause us to separate ourselves from the best parts of ourselves, our empathy for others and willingness to help those in need, their victory is more profound than any bombing could ever be.   

Responding to a Tragedy

When I got up this morning, my heart was in Stillwater and I immediately reached for my phone to get an update. Did the severely injured make it through the night? Was there any additional news that would help me make sense of this tragedy? Was there someone I forgot to check in with who was not OK? 

What I've seen on social media so far is great sadness and bittersweet stories: a little girl who was going to her first OSU homecoming with her aunt and grandma but who "got her first helicopter ride" instead when she was life-flighted out of the carnage; a couple who died who had previously set up a scholarship to OSU after he served for 26 years as an award-winning professor; an OSU student who was pushed out of the way of the car by that professor's wife; the firefighters and National Guard members who were part of the parade and ran to the scene, likely saving lives; a Methodist minister who just happened to be at the hospital when the doctors told the family of the two year old that they were unable to save him. 

I also saw the mugshot of the woman who caused this horrific tragedy. As I scrolled down my newsfeed, I was struck that I had not read any comments that directed anger toward her. As the reality sinks in, it's possible that may change, but I hope not. She did a devastating thing, but let's not respond in kind. 

A wise person once told me that we are all one bad decision away from losing everything. Let's take this moment to feel the truth in that statement. She is facing justice and will likely go to jail for the rest of her life. Let's let the legal system do its job and let us turn to those who need us. Let's pray for and comfort the families, and contribute to the memorial funds, and assist those who were injured when they come home from the hospital. 

The world is watching to see how we handle this, Cowboys and Cowgirls. Let's show them who we are. #LoyalAndTrue #StillwaterStrong

The Katie Chronicles: That's My Job Edition

Katie sometimes plays computer games on kids' websites like PBS. Recently, my computer's browser was doing some really odd, glitchy things and Katie was getting frustrated by it. She looked at me sitting next to her in the couch and said, "This computer is driving me nuts!" Then with a big smile: "That's usually *my* job, to drive people nuts."

"Free" College Isn't So Free

So if you pay attention to politics, you've probably seen plans from several candidates (and one from President Obama), that promise free or much reduced college cost for students.  The goal of these plans --  taking away the financial barriers to completing college -- is admirable and I support it.  The devil, as they say, is in the details.  Some quick thoughts:  Some of these plans are regressive in that they will make no distinction between wealthy families and those who really need the help. Since wealthy students go to college at a higher rate, they will get most of the benefit.  Some of these plans will result in the federal government providing funds to higher education directly.  (Currently, the only real federal financial contribution to college funding is through financial aid, which goes to students not colleges.)  The former is a problem for what I hope are obvious reasons.  The second will, I believe, have two unintended consequences.  It will encourage states to continue their disinvestment in higher education, which is the root of the cost problem to begin with.  They'll continue to cut funding because "the feds will take care of it."  I also believe any kind of direct funding of higher education by the federal government means more top-down, one-size-fits-all federal regulation and that will, sooner or later, end up giving us No Child Left Behind: College Version.  And we know how well that worked out for K - 12.  By all means, let's help students who need the support, but let's be smart about how we do it and let's keep direct federal financing out of higher education.

The Ethan Update: Musical Xenophobia Edition

Yesterday morning,  Ethan asked me what the word "xenophobic" means and I told him. He absorbed the explanation and went on with life. Then a few minutes later he was wandering around the kitchen getting more breakfast and singing this to the tune of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds: "Don't be...xenophobic...'cause every little thing...is gonna be alright....don't be afraid....of other countries...'cause every little thing...is gonna be alright." I think Mr. Marley would like Ethan's update of his song.

The Confederate Flag and Me

I've lived in the South now for 17 years. Being originally from a state that is semi-Southern, there were many things I already understood when I moved here, such as when to use "y'all" vs. "alla y'all" and the glories of the house wine of the South, sweet tea. There are other parts of Southern culture that I've learned about in those 17 years, things you don't really get until you live within a culture, but one thing remains a mystery to me: the attachment of some to the Confederate flag. There are many white Southerners who don’t like the flag and object to it flying in public spaces, but there is still that vocal group who stubbornly insists that it is somehow a symbol of regional pride, or "heritage not hate." I have listened to several perspectives and have yet to understand it. 

The issue of Southern heritage is a personal one.  I am related on my mother’s side to Ben McCullough, a Texas Ranger and brigadier general in the Confederate army, who died after being shot out of his saddle at the Battle of Pea Ridge.  Even with that connection, the power of the Confederate flag evades me, so I’ve looked to my heritage on my father’s side for some kind of analogy. 

My ancestry is largely German and when I was growing up, my dad taught me what it meant to have German roots. I was raised Lutheran and I grew up eating sauerkraut and other German delicacies along with my biscuits and gravy and fried okra. I was taught to be proud of Germanic character traits like hard work and thriftiness. When my dad and I were in Salt Lake City, he took me to see the US Immigration paperwork, which the Mormons have on microform, from when my grandfather (his dad) came to America as a boy. It was a powerful moment that made me proud of the resilience and perseverance of my ancestors.  If I chose to advertise my culture, I could choose the display a German flag…or I could choose to display a red flag with a black swastika, a flag associated with Germany and also with hate and murder and years of prejudice and oppression that still persist today.  

That, for me, is the heart of the debate.  It’s not whether you have the right to be proud of where you’re from.  It’s that choosing to symbolize that pride by displaying a flag that is so closely associated with our own shameful historical episode is such a terribly wrong way to do it.  There are many other symbols that can be used to symbolize a connection with heritage. But just as you will never see a Nazi flag flying in public spaces in Germany, we should also be ashamed to fly our own homegrown symbol of hate, torture, and death.  

The Confederate flag flying at the South Carolina statehouse isn’t their state flag (that one has a pretty palm tree and a crescent moon on it it) and it isn’t even a long-standing tradition.  Like most displays of the Confederate flag in the South, it wasn’t flown until the 1960s, when it was put up as a protest against court-mandated integration. The Confederate flag is a symbol of racism, pure and simple, and I hope those working to take it down are successful.  Put it in a museum, where it belongs.