It is a shame that Bitterrooters need to spend time discouraging our Ravalli County Commissioners from banning Syrian or indeed any Muslim refugees. Either a hugely disproportionate and misplaced amount of fear has taken hold of the Commissioners, or this is shameful political pandering to generate fear, possibly a vicious circle of both. Our Commissioners should treat others as they would like to be treated.
There are threats closer to home they could get productively riled about. I read in the Great Falls Tribune, “And then there are the streets of Hamilton, Montana’s third most dangerous city. In this rough and tumble town ‘residents faced a one in 190 chance of being the victim of violence in 2013’.”
In 1972 I backpacked through Nooristan, a tribal territory in Afghanistan. All the men I met were armed; I was unarmed. I was never assaulted or terrorized. On the contrary, I met some remarkable Muslim and Zoroastrian people, who were generous with their shelter, food, and engaging curiosity about strangers. Their ability to carve a living off that barren land fascinated me and earned my respect. I’m sure things have changed a lot since then, but the goodness of the moral, independent people I got to know there probably did not change so much.
Afghanistan was targeted for invasion by the US, falsely claiming it had been a training ground for the 9/11 terrorism. The native Agfhani people have their hands full living a poor life and did not train those terrorists any more than the people of Florida, where the 9/11 Saudi suicide pilots actually did train. Some Afghanis have become refugees, victims of the same terrorists we fear.
In 1978 I moved to the Bitterroot to carve a living off some sandy land. And I began using my First Amendment right of free speech to speak for protection of our environment, our ‘mother’ land. I was assaulted and threatened numerous times in attempts to silence me. This, unfortunately, prompted me to begin exercising my Second Amendment right. The Oxford dictionary defines ‘terrorism’ as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. For my Constitutionally protected efforts to defend our ‘mother’ land I have been, by definition, ‘terrorized’ by white, presumably Christian men here in Ravalli County, but never anywhere else in the many diverse places and cultures I have visited.
I would like to thank the wholesome souls who acted with courage, compassion and religious tolerance by standing up and speaking to support Muslim refugees at the Commissioners’ meeting. You were the uplifting silver lining on the thick black cloud of hate and religious bigotry. Too many people in the crowd who opposed helping refugees were not satisfied simply to speak their piece but booed and verbally harassed people speaking different opinions. I was very saddened to see that anti-democratic behavior aimed at depriving fellow Americans of their free speech. Some self-described ‘Constitutionalists’ are patriots of convenience, picking and choosing which parts our founders really meant.
Did we commit ‘shock and awe’ in the Middle East to make the world safe for this version of democracy? Aren’t our endless wars there a big part of the cycle of violent chaos causing refugees to flee the region? How would a civil and moral, proudly American, way forward look?
Larry Campbell
Darby