Opinion by J1 reporter Emma Eaton

As an American, we don’t realize the privilege we are born with in this country. Even on the bottom of the social class in America, we are given opportunities that aren’t offered anywhere else in the world.

Given this power, we are able to ignore the things that don’t affect us and our country. Most people around the world can’t turn off the constant terror and the problems they face. The only difference between people in other countries and us is where we were born. A factor that neither of us can control.

Just because religious persecution isn’t a problem for Americans, that isn’t an excuse to not hear of it. Those people that are affected are our brothers and sisters and deserve the same attention as the people of our country. It is against all the morals we were taught to shut out people in need of help. We do this because we want to remain comfortable.

So the easiest thing is to put up a wall, lock immigrants out, turn off the television, and only deal with the things that affect us. For the people being locked out, it isn’t that simple. They have to continue fighting the problems we can’t imagine facing. Again, isn’t immigration how we all came to this country?

With this said, it would be easiest to leave the refugees and fellow human beings alone and continue with our lives, but how is that beneficial to anyone? Our brothers and sisters are being terrorized and we can’t step to the plate. It is ironic how we expect people to listen to us when we are struggling, but we turn our backs on the people who we don’t know.

Sometimes the easiest thing isn’t the best thing to do. We can’t live in constant fear that we turn our backs on the people who we share this earth with.  As Christians, this isn’t portraying what we represent, and as a human race, we are losing compassion for others.