Day: November 10, 2007

Are the volags up to speed on this?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor:  This is a guest post by a ‘church-planting’ missionary with experience in Africa.   This is written in response to our post on Atlas Shrugs/Somali refugees.

Are the polititians, volags (voluntary agencies) and others doing refugee assistance, aware of THIS ingrained anti-assimilation mindset of Muslims desiring US Citizenship?

” … This is the Muslim society.  In this society, the beliefs and ideas of individuals, their devotional acts and religious observances, and their social system and their laws, are all based on submission to God [Allah] alone.  If this attitude is eliminated from any of these aspects, the whole of Islam is eliminated, as the first pillar of Islam – that is, the declaration, ‘there is no deity except God [Allah], and Muhammad is the Messenger of God [Allah]’ – becomes eliminated.

“Thus, and only thus, can this group become a Muslim group and the community which it organizes be Muslim.  Before adopting this purity of attitude no group can be a Muslim group, and before organizing its system of life on this principle no society can be a Muslim society.  The reason for this is that the first principle on which Islam is based, that is “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadar Raul Allah”, is not established in respect to both its parts.

“It is necessary, therefore, before thinking of establishing the Islamic social system and organizing a Muslim community, that one should give attention to purifying the hearts of people from worship of anyone other than God [Allah], in the way we have described above.  Only those whose hearts are so purified will come together to make a group, and only such a group of people, whose beliefs and concepts, whose devotional acts and law, are completely free of servitude to anyone other than God [Allah] can start a Muslim community.  Anyone who wants to live an Islamic life will automatically enter into this community, and his belief, his acts of worship and the laws which he follows, will also be purified for God [Allah] alone.  In other words, he will be an embodiment of “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadar Rasul Allah”.

“This was the manner in which the first Muslim group was formed which eventually developed into the first Muslim community.  This is the only way in which any Muslim group is started and a Muslim community comes into being.

“A Muslim community can come into existence only when individuals and groups of people reject servitude to anyone except God [Allah] – in addition to Him or exclusively – and come into submission to God [Allah], Who has no associates, and decide that they will organize their scheme or life on the basis of this submission.  From this a new community is born, emerging from within the old Jahili society, which immediately confronts it with a new belief and a new way of life based on this belief, presenting a concrete embodiment of the creed, “There is no deity except God[Allah], and Muhammad is the Messenger of God [Allah]”.

[Milestones, Sayyid Qutb (Abdul Naeem for Islamic Book Service, reprint 07, ISBN 81-7231-244-X, pp 78-79) emphasis Qutb’s.  The quote is taken from Chap 5 … The Way of Life of Islam]

 Qutb’s little book is one of the most influential in the world among the ordinary Muslims, i.e., those who are not given to “lying with confidence,” who “just” seek a peaceful life.  It is central instruction for the Sunni of today.  PEOPLE HAILING FROM SOMALIA, for instance, ARE MOSTLY SUNNI MUSLIMS.  Should they have come through Somalia from other places, it is likely that they are Sunni.

It well may be that VOLAGS give up on their “projects,” for their collective approach is usually American and Christian and their intent is to encourage immigrants to ASSIMILATE, when, in fact, the newcomers shall not and that becomes obvious early on, but, however, after entry into the country.

There is need, then, for educating Americans concerning what may be waste of effort to cause these to assimilate, should the above teachings be allowed to be inculcated and reinforced HERE by those teachers (imams) charged with that task.  The teachers, if imported under present law, no  doubt know Milestones very well.  OBL does.

Emporia, Kansas asking questions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I chuckled when I saw this piece in the Emporia Gazette today.  It sounded just like us in Hagerstown, MD  this past spring.   When no one could answer our questions about how Refugee Resettlement worked we set out to find the answers ourselves and this blog was born!

Although they have no name and only informal leadership, a group of more than 25 people came together Thursday night and vowed to work together to fight a move to make Emporia a refugee resettlement point.

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Their first step — gather answers to key questions.

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“We’ve got a data void,” said City Commissioner Bobbie Agler, “a serious data void.”

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It was a theme that ran through the 90-minute meeting as Agler and others attempted to answer as many questions as they could without documentation.

Citizens of Emporia are wondering why they did not know that plans were in the works to make Emporia a refugee center for Somalis coming to work at meat packing plants.  Read the whole story!   The Gazette has an on-line poll in which 89% of the citizens of Emporia say NO to the whole proposition.  Uh oh, is Hagerstown going to get a challenger for the title of most “unwelcome” city in America?   We will fight you for it!

I’ll try to get some stuff up soon on Kansas in “Your state” above.   Update (11/12):  See this post for information on refugees in Kansas.   Our contact information is at the right and we are happy to help you with your research if you need us.

Further update for readers not familiar with what is happening in Emporia.  There is an earlier Gazette article here that gives additional background information about the growing controversy.

Ft. Wayne update: Health Dept strapped, but bring on the Burmese

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

On Thursday, the Health Dept. of Allen County, Indiana, which includes Ft. Wayne held an important meeting to assess the challenge the Department is facing with a large influx of Burmese refugees.   The most pressing issue is where to find the funds to head off potential health risks to the entire community.    Here are some facts according to the News-Sentinal:

Nearly $190,000 in additional funds will be needed to meet the health care needs of refugees coming to Fort Wayne, Department of Health Administrator Mindy Waldron said Thursday at a special meeting of the Board of Health.

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Indiana law requires local health departments to evaluate and treat refugees within 30 days of their arrival.

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Adding staff hours for the Infectious Disease Clinic is the largest need next year. Waldron outlined needs for staff and work hours to the board, calculating 183 more hours per week for medical and administrative staff — at a cost of nearly $160,000 — will be needed.

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Forty percent of Burmese refugees in Fort Wayne have noncontagious latent TB, McMahan said. If not tracked and treated, 10 to 15 percent will develop active TB. Treatment is expensive, requiring daily medications for months by a trained individual at the person’s home or workplace.

But in spite of the challenges, Ft Wayne says they are ready for more refugees:

Steensma [Health Dept. Board Member] asked the public to welcome the refugees. “It’s a burden to this department,” he said, “but it’s not a burden to the community.”

The Journal-Gazette story echoes this same theme:

In an average year, 100 to 200 Burmese refugees settle in Allen County, she [Catholic Charities representative] said. But secondary migration from other settlement communities accounts for an even greater portion of the Burmese population in Fort Wayne. Overall, the city is home to 3,000 to 3,500 Burmese people, one of the largest Burmese populations in the U.S.

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In the meantime, board members said it was important that Burmese refugees are welcomed with open arms into the community.

Bottomline,  it is up to the community.   Some cities, counties and whole states have decided they cannot handle the burden of large numbers of refugees and that choice must be respected.   If Ft. Wayne and Allen County residents are all for resettling large numbers of refugees and attracting others through secondary migration, then that too is a choice we can’t argue with.

See our previous posts on Ft. Wayne here and here.    Check back later and I’ll put some information on Indiana in our “your state” page linked above.