In His Name
Mike Katz, Gail and Micky
No, not Jesus. I’m not a bible thumper, by any possible stretch of the imagination. Too many years of Catholic school cured me of that.
In the name of Mike Katz. My friend. My pal. My bridge partner, roommate, bookie and travel buddy. And the son of refugee Jews.
In the name of Mike Katz I condemn the shameful, cowardly, venal action of Donald Trump banning Muslims from immigration from 7 carefully selected countries. (Not the countries where actual terrorists who have attacked the US are from, like Saudi Arabia. Other countries, where he has no private business dealings. But I digress.)
In the name of Mike Katz I condemn the followers of Trump who think this is a good thing, who see all 1.2 billion Muslims as a danger, as “the other’, as inherently evil.
In the name of Mike Katz I condemn the churches that support this racism and religious bigotry. They have forgotten the teachings of Jesus to love one another.
Why Mike? Because in 1939 the MS St. Louis set out from Hamburg Germany with 937 Jewish refugees, headed to Havana. Although they had purchased visas, the refugees were denied entry to Cuba. Then, in an act of cowardice and bigotry that foreshadows today’s actions, they were denied entry to the US. Then Canada.
The ship was eventually forced to return to Antwerp, where the captain, Gustav Schröeder, refused to dock until all the Jews were guaranteed entry somewhere that was not Germany.
Two hundred eight of them were accepted into the United Kingdom. Among these were a young couple who met and married and made a life together: Mike’s parents. Mike was born in London, emigrating to the US when he was a child.
Today, Trump shamed himself and our nation by signing an executive order banning refugees from Syria. Giving preference to Christian refugees from other nations. Suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days. A cap of 50,000 refugees total in 2017–less than half the previous upper limit. Calling for something called “extreme vetting”–more than the current 18 month to 2 year system that exists.
This is simply shameful. It is un-American. Un-Christian. Unacceptable. Perhaps Trump should add a line to the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
(Unless they are Muslim. Then fuck ’em)
Totally Unauthorized 
Thank you Chris
thank you for noticing. I have been thinking of the St. Louis all week. and that was our beloved FDR. Yesterday was the Day to Remember the Holocaust–Yom Ha Shoah.
We are living in scary times, and just wait for the taxes and lack of imports (food) from Mexico.
Get that garden going.
Amen! Lady Liberty’s face is wet with tears and our entire nation is under a cloud of shame.
I applaud you for this post. I could say much more, but it would be preaching to the choir.
Thank you for telling Mike’s story
Sent from my iPad
>
The banning of the St. Louis was truly shameful. Totally agree. Today’s situation is more than a bit different, which you and your fellow posters choose to ignore…which doesn’t surprise me. I agree that likely, many of those who wish to enter the US are good people. The issue you and yours choose to ignore, is that some numbers of them are not. And we simply cannot really tell the difference. (Please don’t tell me that we can. How current and accurate are the record centers in bombed out Aleppo?).
Speaking of Europe, the Europe of today…have you taken a recent look see at it? Your fellow European diversity freaks are working hard on destroying Europe. Angela Merkel should take a nice stroll at night, without her security guards, so she could possibly be raped. If it happened, the odds are pretty damn good, the act would have been done by a 17-40 year old Muslim male, recently settled in Germany. The real shameful truth is that virtually wherever on the planet people are being murdered, maimed, raped and assaulted by immigrants, it’s very likely being done by young Muslim males. That’s not racism or prejudice, that’s the truth. If it were Buddhists performing such unspeakable acts, I’d be in favor or halting immigration from Thailand.
The first and primary responsibility of the President, is to protect American citizens.
You want to bring in thousands of refugees, well and good. Settle them all in Chappaqua, Beacon Hill, and… Lafayette.
Your angry racism is disquieting. The biggest terror attacks in the US, other than 9/11, were performed by right wing Christian fanatics. How do you propose to keep them out of the country?
The USA is a country of immigrants and refugees. Obviously, we cannot take everyone in the world that wants to come here and can afford a one-way plane ticket. However, we should do our best to take as many as possible, it is the spirit of our nation. I think the analogy to the St. Louis does apply. There is another more subtle point. If the world sits back and does not intervene in other countries affairs, it will affect us. Either we will turn away 1000s of people to be slaughtered or accept 1000s of refugees. The world did nothing about Hitler as he began conquering sovereign nations. The world did nothing about Assad as he massacred his own people. In the end, the world faces a decision. Destroy our humanity by rejecting refugees or accept half a million people into our country overnight. Obviously we have to strike a balance, but it would be easier for all if we wouldn’t have abandoned our fellow humans in the first place.
Chris, your reply doesn’t surprise me one iota. You and the uber left delight in calling anyone who disagrees with you racists. I am not a racist, and I resent having to state the obvious to you. You also overlooked that I was mainly talking about Europe, not the US. I should email you any of the countless articles I’ve read, by serious political observers, about the horrors that have been unleashed all over Europe. The Europeans are committing suicide. That’s their choice. Not mine and not that of millions of other Americans. Thank God. Hopefully, they can save themselves before it’s too late. There are signs that they are finally waking up.
Toby, you are, respectfully, missing a huge point. Sure, our country has been a country of immigrants and refugees. I’m second generation. I get it. Really. That said, prior refugees have all wanted to assimilate, to be Americans, with all that means. The Muslim invasion ( yes, I use the word on purpose) of Europe is comprised of many of those who do not want to assimilate, who want to take over Europe, impose Sharia law, who have no tolerance of others, who substantially raise crime rates wherever they immigrate to, and so much more I could say. If we bring in huge, unvetted numbers like those to the US, that’s likely what we’d get here. Again, I am NOT saying they are all that way. But too many of them are.
Havet you noticed that many MIDDLE EASTERN countries aren’t accepting any of their co-religionists?
Toby, you say “In the end, the world faces a decision. Destroy our humanity by rejecting refugees or accept half a million people into our country overnight.” The humanity of many of your fellow Americans will be more likely “destroyed” by accepting a half million of these people overnight. Forgive me, but I’d far rather help AMERICAN citizens, than vast numbers of foreigners (from ANY country, Chris).