Governor Deal will try to prevent Georgia from accepting any further Syrian refugees (Atlanta: money, metro)

[earthlyfather]

Absolutely, positively on the mark. Goodnight children.

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Ha! Anyone with a working set of eyeballs can see that absence of facts, personal attacks and shoutdowns are the provenance of the liberal.

[tikigod311]

Quick theoretical question for those that love to throw around the term xenophobic.

I were to object to an open visa policy with Afghanistan, would that make me xenophobic?

I know that is not what is going on here, but at what point would do you like to try to put a person down by classifying them as xenophobic? Because I wouldn't want a open visa policy with Afghanistan and only because I don't trust that group of people. Per the definition, that would make me xenophobic.

Technically, just HAVING any sort of visa policy is xenophobic.

The term is a total cop out in this argument and people love to use it to shut down conversation. Are some people taking it too far, yes. But not trusting large groups of people in the middle east, uhhhh yeah, I have eyes and a freakin brain. Stop boiling it down to a person or family you knew that was cool. This is to be measured as a group.

BTW, I am very torn on this issue. It all comes down to the fact that I do not trust the government to screen incoming folks, they clearly suck at screening.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by earthlyfather

That is the argument you are left with; demonization of someone who disagrees with your point of view.

If you believe that is demonizing then you are beyond rationale and continued engagement... The word you need to be looking for is pity...

[flamadiddle]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that those in this thread that support opening the flood gates are also Obama/Hillary supporters.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Ha! Anyone with a working set of eyeballs can see that absence of facts, personal attacks and shoutdowns are the provenance of the liberal.

Is Trump a liberal now? I hear more absence of facts, personal attacks, and shoutdowns when he is on stage than from anybody else. No matter what argument you side with, you can't say THAT isn't true...

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I were to object to an open visa policy with Afghanistan, would that make me xenophobic?

Yes. Fear/suspicion of foreigners, is xenophobia. That's the definition.

"I don't want people from that country coming in to my country"... there is really no non-misguided, non-phobia related reason for such a harsh and obtuse border policy, that I can think of, especially when the country in question is in the middle of a war or crisis, and we're talking about a situation with a flood of refugees who either don't have a home to return to because it was flattened by a missile, and/or their country is an extremely dangerous place to return to, and/or their country's economy is non-existent and their family is starving.

I mean, every single day we take risks. When you get in your car you take a risk. Well. I am very willing for my country to take a small amount of inevitable risk that a bad guy who wants to harm us could potentially slip in past our screening, when the alternative is walling off our country from the world like immature, heartless grown brat babies, concerned so much with protecting Americans that we would let millions of non-Americans suffer and die before taking even the slightest risk of any kind for ourselves, like hey, they're not American so they're not worthy of us caring about, and their lives don't matter.

Political borders are arbitrary and made up, at the end of the day. Surely all humans should care for each other. We are all just regular old people all around the world who should deserve at least a basic level of compassion, regardless of nationalities. The vast majority of people are just trying to make their way and not trying to hurt anyone, and that fact should be at the basis of all border policy.

Absolutely have as good of security as possible, just not at the expense of basic human values.

[magnetar]

There's no point in arguing with these people. I already pointed out several pages ago that not one of the attackers has been proven to be from Syria, or a refugee from anywhere. All of the identified attackers are from France or Belgium so far. Unfortunately many people in the United States are too quick to jump to the exact reaction that terrorists intend to create. All we can hope is that they will come to their senses.

/opens the escape hatch on this thread/

[JPD]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that those in this thread that support opening the flood gates are also Obama/Hillary supporters.

Not a single person has supported opening flood gates, so yes, you're WAY out on a limb.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Yes. Fear/suspicion of foreigners, is xenophobia. That's the definition.

"I don't want people from that country coming in to my country"... there is really no non-misguided, non-phobia related reason for such a harsh and obtuse border policy, that I can think of, especially when the country in question is in the middle of a war or crisis, and we're talking about a situation with a flood of refugees who either don't have a home to return to because it was flattened by a missile, and/or their country is an extremely dangerous place to return to, and/or their country's economy is non-existent and their family is starving.

I mean, every single day we take risks. When you get in your car you take a risk. Well. I am very willing for my country to take a small amount of inevitable risk that a bad guy who wants to harm us could potentially slip in past our screening, when the alternative is walling off our country from the world like immature, heartless grown brat babies, concerned so much with protecting Americans that we would let millions of non-Americans suffer and die before taking even the slightest risk of any kind for ourselves, like hey, they're not American so they're not worthy of us caring about, and their lives don't matter.

Political borders are arbitrary and made up, at the end of the day. Surely all humans should care for each other. We are all just regular old people all around the world who should deserve at least a basic level of compassion, regardless of nationalities. The vast majority of people are just trying to make their way and not trying to hurt anyone, and that fact should be at the basis of all border policy.

Absolutely have as good of security as possible, just not at the expense of basic human values.

Xenophobia-intense or irrational fear. Given that we know ISIS has and is continuing to try to get into western countries through posing as Syrian refugees, the only thing irrational is denying that it is a risk.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by JPD

Not a single person has supported opening flood gates, so yes, you're WAY out on a limb.

Far from it, actually. What's been suggested, as far as I can tell, is the strictest form of immigration control possible, without simply walling off the country. 1.5 - 3 years of intense investigation and cross-checking by numerous intelligence agencies who have decades of experience doing exactly that before anyone is even accepted, let alone allowed onto U.S. soil, is very, very far from an open boarders policy.