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What Vandal said, I am more worried 10x more about the federal government conspiracy nuttos, white supremacists, and just general crazies then muslim extremists.
You know BM (chuckle), I'm starting to think I get what you are on about in your posts to me, reading between the lines that is about Idaho and Idahoans. It is kind of like a secret code in which people live by here and the reason Idaho is great and will be great for as long as possible. Maybe I am sounding the alarm a bit too much and loudly about people coming here and ruining it.
In my opinion though, bringing refugees from another country that has a major terrorism problem and trusting the current federal government to properly vet them is a much bigger threat than people coming from other states within the USA, that are here legally of course.
It's not a secret code. Sooner or later, anyone and everyone who moves here will need help from a complete stranger. Its a fact of living in Idaho. The help may not amount to much in itself, but the dependence on the help may be critical, and it is very often critical.
You just don't believe yet that I'm exaggerating this. I am not.
Our state's harshness and isolation can be lethal in ways you never saw or experienced in California. You escaped because there were so many people there into an environment equally dangerous (and fearful) due to human self isolation. Out here, its nature's isolation that is dangerous. Humans may be dangerous too, but that's variable. A broken leg in nature's isolation is not variable. It's always more lethal than the person who stops and rescues you, even if that person is crazier than a peach orchard boar.
You probably haven't needed some stranger's help yet, but it is inevitable here that you will. And when the time comes, the very last thing on your mind will be the reasons why you moved here. Just as inevitably, your turn to be the helpful stranger will come as well.
Idaho's wildness kills someone in our state every day. Sometimes individuals, other times, groups. Just find a good statewide news service to understand that fact.
The reason why more of us don't die than do is because Live And Let Live is a literal fact of life here.
If your vehicle stops a 3 miles from the closest humanity during a ground blizzard in temperatures that are 20 below zero,and the wind is blowing 40 miles an hour, the only choice you may have is the speed of death if you're alone. Remaining in the car will kill you, but only slower than getting out and walking.
A stranger who passes by will stop and save your life much more readily than in California, but the same stranger is also much more likely to kick you out in the snowdrift if you begin acting like a jerk in any way.
This makes politeness to everyone an integral part of Live And Let Live.
The example I used is not extreme or unusual. You will learn either through example or experience, and experience is by far the most cruel teacher in this state.
"Smile when you say that, stranger." is not fiction in life here. It, too, is integral with Live And Let Live.
Why are we both friendly and reserved at the same time?
Because allowing your individual emotions and passions to over-ride your need for assistance can have consequences as deep as the thing that caused the need for help. Learning to keep your mouth shut and just hang on can save your life, and very often it's the only thing that will. All of us who have lived here for a long time have been on both sides of that coin in its many degrees.
Just ask anyone who has lived here for a decade or more. Every adult I know has potentially saved another person's life at some time or other. Many have directly saved a person's life.
We stop and pull a person out of a burning car, or haul them out of a barrow pit, or pull them to shore, or pick them up off the street because our turn is always coming, not because of the goodness of our hearts or the love of strangers. it doesn't matter if the help requires a few seconds or a couple of days. Our turn is always coming.
That's what MSR, Vandal, and every experienced Idaho has been trying to tell you. Believe all of us.
Last edited by banjomike; 07-02-2015 at 02:25 PM..
Concern about all of these are not mutually exclusive, and I agree we need to be worried about anyone looking to bring physical harm to others from extremist group.
This is the internet...welcome! It is too easy to produce an image in your mind of a person based on a few limited posts containing certain perspectives. I think that you are incorrectly judging me as having sinister biases but it is your prerogative to do so.
Not really. He's pretty judgmental. Typically the more people preach tolerance, the more intolerant they truly are.
Regardless, all of the labels that have been thrown around regarding domestic extremists do not account for the fact they are typically non-violent. That is not true of other kinds of extremists, including those under discussion in this thread.
Apparently, a few new transplants from California? Nothing like a couple of newbies to knock the grading down a notch or two.
The Twin Falls center has been operating for quite a while now, and the folks in Twin aren't paranoid. I seriously doubt the few Syrians who find their way here have not been thoroughly vetted. And Idaho isn't exactly an area any of them would know doodley-squat about, even if they were able to look it up on a map.
I find the thought of a couple of Syrian kids leaving Twin to go to Sagle to establish a huge underground conspiracy so that Islam can take over the intermountain west laughably funny, to say the least. I can picture them now. wandering around in the lavas of the Arco desert, wishing they were back in the refugee camp just over the Syrian border. They might starve in Jordan, but at least they won't freeze and get their feet cut to ribbons while starving there.
However, I don't find Idaho conspiracists to be a bit funny.
Past conspiracy nuts have caused Old Mother Idaho a lot of trouble we didn't seek nor need. Leaving widespread paranoia behind is one popular reason why folks move here in the first place. Hell, if a person can't feel safe here, there's no place in the U.S. he will ever feel safe.
I don't know, but I'm guessing they have. The LDS are experts in conversion. They converted entire Indian tribes en masse in the past, and I know some former Jews who were converted. If anything, they're better at it now than in their early days. The church is presently doing very well in E. Europe because of it's sophisticated conversion efforts. I don't think converting a Catholic Pole is any easier than converting a Syrian Muslim, or any harder. They are very good at adjusting the message to fit the territory.
Gratitude plays a big part of conversion in any faith, so I expect the Muslims who have been killed by other Muslims are no execution to that, especially when both faiths are so concentrated around families and family rituals. Being grateful and accepting conversion always has direct payoffs of many kinds from within the faith.
I suppose any Bishop in Twin could lead you to an accurate answer to your question easily. For a fact, the LDS has succeeded when so many other American faiths that arose at the same time have failed and disappeared since. The LDS has always had a certain flexibility to their faith that has practical allowances of societal changes from within and without.
[QUITE Toyman at Jewel Lake;40259483]Has LDS had any luck recruiting any of them?[/quote]
Hi Toyman,
I don't understand your question. Have the LDS "recruited" who? If you are referring to the refugees, you can check at the LDS church website and see if there are missions in those countries. It takes missionaries to teach. If people chose to become LDS they are baptized and referred to as converts.
But what is your point? If Muslims are practicing Muslims what would stop them being practicing Muslims in Idaho? If they decide to become Catholic, Calvary Baptist or another religion, that will be their choice.
Surely, I must have missed your main point as the LDS Church is not the subject here. Please try to restate your question a different way as it could appear you are making a remark about the LDS Church. I think you try to stay on topic much more than that.
The center isn't operated by any church, and Twin Falls is not an all LDS community. No city is 100% LDS, even Rexburg, or ever has been.
The center was founded by the College of Southern Idaho, a state college, in 1980 under the Indo-China Refugee Resettlement program that was written by Congress. The name has changed many times, as have the refugees the center has helped. The original group of refugees were Laotian, then Vietnamese. Later refugees were Czechoslovakians.
As the years have gone by, the mission has often changed, and the center itself as well. As it is with most federal agencies, the Twin Falls center has expanded and shrunk in the past, in both its mission and facilities.
The Idaho state government has a statewide Office for Refugees. This office has existed since 1975, 5 years before the Twin Falls center was even planned, and has helped refugees from all over the world resettle in the state ever since its founding.
The Office for Refugees uses federal, state, church affiliated resources, industry resources, and private resources in a mix, all depending in the needs of the moment and the needs of a particular area.
Here's its website:
There are most likely several groups or branch offices close to you. If you really want to know the facts, try to look them up. They are very easy to find. It is your choice if you want to content yourself with rumors, but don't mistake rumors for facts.
The Syrians are war refugees, let us not forget that very important fact. They are victims of a corrupt president who has murdered over 300,000 people with chemical weapons and bombs. Imagine going through life on a daily basis and bombs begin blowing up around you. You lose close relatives, your home and soon there is no food. These are the conditions facing nearly 3 million refugees who have fled the country and most are not being accepted by other nations. What will become of these people, we do not know but we must cry for them.
How many are children? Do we have the courage to look them in the eyes and see war? Do we have evidence that the priority of any of them is to commit jihad? PLEASE!!
As decent people, we must welcome them and wish them well and get to know them as people and let them see our goodness. And remember that all fundamental religion has the potential to become incredibly destructive.
Fear is different when you're fat, safe, and securely comfortable. And far away from the fight.
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