Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Syrian refugees should stay in familiar Mideast cultures

Syria refugee Nedal Al-Hayk listens during an interview Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 in Warren, Mich. Several U.S. governors are threatening to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states in the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris, though an immigration expert says they have no legal authority to do so. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Syria refugee Nedal Al-Hayk listens during an interview Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 in Warren, Mich. Several U.S. governors are threatening to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into their states in the aftermath of the coordinated attacks in Paris, though an immigration expert says they have no legal authority to do so. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Paul Sancya AP

Florida has enough homeless folks to deal with now, and secondary we have enough pregnant women whose men cannot support their families now. From what I could sort out, only 10 percent of the Syrian population is Christian: Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian and Protestant. The majority are Muslim: Sunni Arabs and Shia Muslim. I doubt many are practicing any form of birth control.

The Syrian Arab Republic population's (21,897,000) language is Arabic. The country has no official religion, but Islam is required to be the religion of the head of state and is the basis of its legal system and its one-house legislature.

That in itself would create problems for them adjusting to our system of government. How could we get 10,000 people into language classes?

The average age of those seeking entry to the U.S.? Only 2 percent of males are of combat age; vetting takes 18-24 months, 2.5 percent are elderly. The majority are now living in Jordan and Lebanon, half are under 18 years of age, according to information from Google.

My heart goes out to these families but my mind rules my thinking. We need to help their neighboring countries return them to their land and way of life -- not bring them into foreign countries with more complicated ways of life for them.

Rev. Emmalou H. Kirchmeier

Bradenton

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Syrian refugees should stay in familiar Mideast cultures ."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER