A Proposed Solution to the Middle East Refugee Crisis

Some people insist that the Bible mandates we accept any and all refugees into our own countries with arms opened wide. If you think that’s true, then for the benefit of any onlookers my only possible response must be to demonstrate either 1) your ignorance of Scripture or 2) your abject hypocrisy and then to block you. That might be fun for a few minutes, but I don’t get nearly the kick from inflicting public humiliation that I used to, so don’t waste my time with such pablum.

Instead, I’m going to engage in some fantastic pablum of my own in proposing a solution to the Middle East refugee crisis.

Without further ado…

Step One: Find some poor, but nominally Christian nation with some extra space. Several candidates in southern Africa come to mind. Offer to develop their national infrastructure in exchange for hosting a number of temporary, well-secured cities with adjoining farmland for housing and feeding refugees.

Step Two: Invite any and all refugees from war-torn regions to relocate to these Cities of Refuge with the following caveats:

• There will be no minarets, no mosques, no public Muslim prayers, and no Muslim services. In short, Islam will be forbidden within the Cities.
• All refugees, 3 years and older, will attend Bible classes and memorize Scripture. These classes will be taught by volunteers who demonstrate Biblical knowledge and agree to a Statement of Faith that covers only the barest essentials of the Christian faith. Each refugee family may select from whichever teachers are available in their City.
• All refugees, from 7 to 17 years old, will be required to attend additional classes in reading, writing, and mathematics.
• All refugees, 13 years and older, will work to produce the necessities of living for their own city of refuge. Trade between the cities will be encouraged if all of the basic needs of the participating cities have been met.

Step Three: All male refugees, 18 years and older, who have publicly disavowed Islam and sworn allegiance to Jesus Christ/Yeshua haMashiach (I don’t care what language they want to use) and obedience to the Ten Commandments (the full Torah would be even better, but the Ten is a good start) will receive military training and appointments in an organized militia with the understanding that they will eventually return and retake their homelands.

Step Four: No male refugee, from 18 to 50 years old, will be allowed to remain in the Cities for longer than one year. At that time, if they have converted to faith in Jesus, they will be deployed with their militia unit, with arms and logistical support from the Cities, volunteers, and supportive national governments. If they have not converted, they will be forcibly repatriated to their homelands with no further assistance possible. They may choose to take their families with them or leave them behind in the Cities.

I fully realize that the current political landscape would not allow such a scheme without the full military backing of the USA and/or Russia, probably both. I could imagine Russia implementing something like this, but not the USA. We’re too emasculated to do anything so bold and decisive.

Honestly, it sounds more like a Tom Kratman novel than anything that would ever happen in our world, but a guy can dream, right?