I, like billions of other people on this planet, was shocked and horrified at the senseless loss of life in Paris. I have tried to read everything I could find on the subject and why this merciless act happened. The Paris attacks were also the subject of this past Sunday’s sermon of Reverend Charles D. Petit at my home church, St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Forest Acres, SC.

 

Now the furor is rising in our own country about whether we should accept any Syrian refugees for resettlement. I can certainly understand both sides of the argument. I do feel that if Syrian refugees are properly cleared by an extensive security clearance procedure that we should consider taking them, because that is why/how this great country was founded, and virtually all of us have ancestors (including mine, who came from Ireland) that came here for a better life. I also respect my friends who have the opposite view, i.e. that we should not take any refugees for fear that they will turn on us.

 

Massacres in the name of religious extremism/fanaticism were occurring before Jesus was even born, and my overarching prayer is that people will learn to get along, respect each other’s views and respect the Rule of Law. The actual Rule of Law movement and its connection to our very own University of South Carolina will be the subject of a future KellyGram.