At the April 2016 conference Elder Patrick Kearon petitioned Mormons worldwide:
“Each one of us can increase our awareness of world events that drive these families from their homes. We must take a stand against intolerance and advocate respect and understanding across cultures and traditions. Meeting refugee families and hearing their stories with your own ears and not with a screen or newspaper will change you.”
Tariq Khan is a hard hitting social justice activist who pulls no punches. He’s gritty and blunt and has stuff to say that is ‘in your face’. But he speaks of political ideas that need attention. The Syrian refugee crisis didn’t happen in a vacuum; Donald Trump’s rise in popularity didn’t happen in a vacuum; the sharp decline of US moral authority internationally didn’t happen in a vacuum. Tariq is passionate about seeing oppression and its roots domestically and internationally and doing his part to relieve the oppressed.
If you can manage hearing difficult things said of the state of the West this is a powerful discussion. If you find it difficult to hear these things that shatter your illusions about the West the reasons why it makes you uncomfortable will also be discussed.
LINKS:
Asking Questions About Brussels
Will the US Own Up to its Role in the Refugee Crisis?
Greek anarchists organise for refugees as ‘state fails’
Mormon Families for Immigration Reform
I came to appreciate the similarity between Mormons and Muslims when I got to know a Palestinian who was a fellow graduate student at BYU. I feel like I’m starting to see encouraging signs that the broader Mormon culture is showing itself to be more friendly to Islam than other Americans (Utah’s rejection of Trump, general conference talks in support of aid to refugees). The blind Islamophobia in our broader American culture is horrifying. My daughter (age 12) recently told me of a boy at school who says he wants to join the army so he can go to the middle east and kill Muslims. What is he hearing at home to put ideas like that in his head?
Tariq, I don’t know how long you’ve been at UIUC, but I wish we had the opportunity to cross paths while my wife was working on her PhD there (we moved away 2 years ago). Whichever ward you’re in sounds a lot more interesting that the one we went to!
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