The American was good-natured, generous, hospitable, and sociable, and he reversed the whole history
of language to make the term “stranger” one of welcome.
- Henry Steele Comager
Something to think about as a majority of our governors have closed their states to Syrian refugees. People who have literally walked across a continent in some cases. People who have run from tyranny and bloodshed that we can only hope to never know. Tired, poor masses who are certainly yearning to breathe free. There is a decent percentage of this country telling them in no certain terms to fuck off. Or worse, "come back when you're the right religion."
Fear is understandable. In some cases it is an utter necessity. But to cave to fear, especially as a nation, a
great nation, it is unacceptable. We must take the good with the bad, we must stand by our beliefs not only in an hour of perceived terror, but especially in the presence of actual terror. We must maintain our dignity and stand by our beliefs at all costs. If this means we get attacked, then so be it. But to be cowed into hiding by a bunch of savages is deplorable. To blame whole swathes of people for the actions of a few is not only wholly ignorant, it is self-defeating.
I would rather be known as one who died with an open hand than lived as one with a closed fist.
I've never been more proud of my home state for being one of the first to open their arms. Thank you for believing in the good, Pennsylvania.
