Who Rules the World?

Albert Einstein said: “Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.”

The recent, horrifying events in Paris have once again rocked the world, shaken the international community to our core. We have, once again, been victimized by terrorists, and we are rightfully afraid of the next event. Because the perpetrators were Syrian, there is concern that the refugees fleeing Syria will harbor other terrorists; therefore let us not allow the immigrants into our country. That would prevent another attack on American citizens.

Not. Before we give in to fear and rhetoric, consider that the United States has her own home grown terrorists, from way back to the 1910 Los Angeles Times explosion that ignited a fatal fire; the 1920 Wall Street bombing; the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists; serial killers like Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer Gary Ridgway; anti-abortionists like Robert Dear; Symbionese Liberation Army from the 1960s; the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski; and, last but not least, Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber who is responsible for the killings of 168 people, nineteen of them children—the second worst tragedy of terrorism in our country after 9/11. An article by Scott Shane, June 2015, says it succinctly: Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11.

You are far more likely to die on a school campus or in the city by gun violence than to be killed by a terrorist. The statistics from 2004-2013 from the Center for Disease Control and the State Department show that: in 2013 alone, 33,636 people in America were killed by gun violence. That’s more than all Americans killed by terrorists on U.S soil in the last 14 years, the September 11th attacks included; 2,977 people died in the 9/11 attacks, and 74 have been killed since by terrorists.

Here is another surprising statistic from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes.

According to CDC, prescription meds are more likely to kill you than a car crash. More than 100,00 people have been killed in gun homicides and more than 400,000 in car accidents.

You are more likely to die from falling off the ladder putting up Christmas tree lights than from a terrorist attack.

It is estimated that one in four refugees today is Syrian, with over 23 million outside their country and a further seven million internally displaced within it; around half of the total population. I was born in Oklahoma City, but it is not reasonable to think that I would be associated with Timothy McVeigh, anymore than the men, women and children seeking refuge from imminent danger from their own Syrian countrymen are all terrorists. Soon enough, there will be no subjects for the terrorist kings to rule.

I would like to give kudos to governors Jay Inslee of Washington and Gary Herbert of Utah for their voices of reason, sensibility and humanity in response to the negative outcry to keep Syrian immigrants from coming into our country. The United States is a country of refugees…remember the Pilgrims? The United States is not a small country with limited resources; there is room for more. Refugees have contributed to the foundation of our country with labor and brains to build a nation that prides itself for its preservation of human rights. We are a global community and we are not alone in this fight against terrorism; let us not trade our humanity for rhetoric, or let fear close our hearts or harden our heads to those who need sanctuary.