Refugees Aren't Skittles.

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Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2016

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we’ve been having a national conversation about candy. "If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?'' states a tweet posted by Donald Trump Jr. earlier this week. "That's our Syrian refugee problem." "This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first." Trump Jr.’s image has gone viral—but not necessarily because its message resonates with the truth. “There are theological problems with comparing human beings made in the image of God to candy,” said Matthew Soerens, the US director of church mobilization at World Relief, a group which helps the government resettle refugees. He added: “It’s a good rhetorical tool but it’s based on bad data.” Only two refugees out the thousands that have been admitted since the 1970s had committed terrorist attacks, said Soerens, citing a recent report from the Cato Institute. “There’s been none since the 1980s.” “If you include that, the odds of being killed by a refugee who commits terrorist activity in the United States if you’re an American is 1.36 billion,” said Soerens. In spite of this debate, this past fiscal year, the US welcomed more than 10,000 Syrian refugees. But while Christians have been increasingly persecuted by ISIS, fewer than 150 entered the country this year. So where are they, asks Nina Shea, who directs the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. “They are facing genocide by ISIS...the worst human rights violation of all,” said Shea. “They are not coming into the United States in the proportion that would be fair.” Soerens and Shea joined Morgan and Katelyn to discuss what obstacles may be facing Syrian Christians trying to enter the United States, why many may have remained in their homeland, and whether the US should double the number of refugees it admits annually. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.0	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:20.6	Thank you. Michael Del Rosario at Apologeticsguy.com.
0:40.0	Hey, this is Morgan Lee. I'm an assistant editor here at Christianity today, and you are listening to Quick to listen. I'm joined, as always, by Caitlin, but also Caitlin plus company.
0:45.4	Yeah, we do have a special guest in the studio live with us.
0:46.9	I am Caitlin Beatty.
0:52.7	I'm the print managing editor of Christianity today, and I'm excited to kick off another episode of Quick to Listen. The topic this week is the controversy surrounding it is basically going on in real time.
1:00.3	We actually changed our focus a little bit given the reactions that we're seeing on Twitter.
1:08.3	I know we've got everyone's interest is piqued right now. We haven't talked
1:11.5	about what it is. Well, we're not talking about Brandelina, although maybe we should. We are joined
1:17.1	this week in studio by Matt Swerins. Hey, Matt. Hey, it's great to be here. Good to see you. Matt is
1:24.4	the U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the
1:29.5	National Association of Evangelicals. He is the author most recently of Seeking Refuge on the Shores
1:35.6	of the Global Refugee Crisis with former head of World Relief Stephen Bauman and Isam Smear.
1:42.5	He has advocated in the past for just and compassionate immigration
1:46.0	policies, and he lives with his wife and two children in Aurora, Illinois, about 30 minutes from here.
1:50.8	Then we also have Nina Shea. Hi, Nina.
1:53.3	Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm sure a lot of our listeners know Nina's name.
1:58.6	She's been an expert on international religious freedom issues quoted in CT many times over the past several years.
2:06.8	She's a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute where she has directed the Center for Religious Freedom for 10 years, and she founded the center 30 years ago.
2:16.4	She's an international human rights lawyer and works on
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