Today’s article will contemplate two topics but its title will apply to both. Let’s explore.

The Trump administration appears to be unable and unwilling to differentiate between immigrants and refugees. Refugees are a subset of immigrants. They are fleeing dangerous situations. This is not a new phenomenon. One of the ugliest chapters in American history is when America refused some 900 Jewish refugees aboard the SS St. Louis asylum in 1939. Most of them ended up dying in Nazi concentration camps. Somewhere in my youth I learned about such things. Evidentially Donald Trump and his team never had the same advantages in life I did or, more likely, lacked the ability to comprehend the lessons.

In 2017 Alan Gratz wrote the book Refugee. It is a young adult work of historical fiction. He covered the St. Louis episode in one of his three principle subplots. At 66 I am hardly his target audience but I found reading the book both entertaining and thought provoking. Perhaps members of the Trump administration would benefit from this relatively quick read. If only he were a reader (one of his plethora of shortcomings) I’d suggest the president read it. (In full disclosure I have had the privilege of meeting Alan and found him to be a delightful man.)

In one of his latest distractions/plays to his white supremacist base, Trump is reportedly trying to charge asylum seekers an application fee. These are refugees fleeing for their lives; they aren’t coming “armed” with fat wallets and huge bank balances. They didn’t have the foresight to get a “Small million dollar loan” from their father. I know Trump’s intent is evil; I am just wondering if he is also insane.

My second point today is my repulsion at the attacks on people in their places of worship around the world, very much including in America. To put this in perspective I have to address my religious history. I was raised Catholic and left the church in my early teens. The beliefs, practices and teachings of that denomination simply do not fit me. Today I would best be described as an agnostic. I question the existence of God though I am at this point not prepared to preclude it. I simply admit I do not definitively know. I am not someone who attends church. In 2012 as part of my position with the Obama campaign I spoke in churches several times. The truth be told, I very much enjoyed the experience. I am not currently nor do I anticipate becoming a member of any organized religion or a member of any congregation. However – and here is the important part – I had the good fortune to be born in Buffalo, New York and am very much an American. I believe in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees freedom of religion. That means your right to attend the church services of your choice and mine to not attend any.

If there is any time that Americans should feel safe it is when they are in their place of worship. If there is any institution everyone in America should respect it is a place of worship regardless of religion or the people in attendance. That is one of the core values of America!

I’m not certain if the people violating places of worship are insane – although why would a sane person enter a place of worship with a bomb or firing a gun – but by American standards they are certainly evil!

Regardless whether or not you believe in God or where you chose to worship morality is simply morality and this administration and those who they encourage to perpetrate insane evil acts lack any moral foundation. I find that repulsive, insane, evil and most certainly un-American!

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