Xenophobic? I think not.

Recently I’ve felt like politicians and members of the press view me as a xenophobe. Well, not directly of course, but they have called people with whom I agree xenophobic. I’m used to being called names and it generally doesn’t bother me because there is usually a grain of truth involved. Like when someone says I’m a “blowhard” or “loudmouth” I don’t get too bothered because I can see how someone might come to that conclusion. I do, after all, tend to state my opinions openly and frankly. I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said, “Tell us what you really think, Joe.” As a libertarian, my participation in political discussions often earns me the “crackpot” moniker, especially when I say things like “all recreational drug use should be legalized” and “a person should be free to marry anyone they choose as long as both parties are willing and of legal age.” As you might imagine, some of my friends here in Texas think I may not have both oars in the water.

I try to explain to people that we libertarians have a novel way of viewing the world. You see, I believe freedom should be legal. What a novel concept, right? As long as I don’t harm any other citizen or infringe on their freedom, I should be free to do whatever the hell I want. If that makes me a crackpot, so be it. I’ll wear the label proudly. One label I will not wear is xenophobe. Firstly, we live in a nation comprised almost entirely of immigrants. My father was the first in his family to be born in the United States. Two of my best friends are now citizens of the U.S., but one was born in Iran and the other in Mexico. Both legally migrated to the States as children. Guess what? Our country is better for having them both. By definition, were I a true xenophobe, I could not make that statement nor count them as friends, correct?

The key phrase in the above definition of xenophobia is “irrational dislike or fear”. Yes, there are immigrants to our country whom I fear and dislike. They are the murderous drug smugglers and coyotes who deal in poison and human trafficking along our southern border. They are jihadists who openly disdain all homosexuals, Jews and other non-Muslims and declare they should be killed simply because they don’t conform to sharia law. They are also the men who believe it is OK to discipline their wife by beating her and that there is no such thing as marital rape.

Yes, I do dislike and (in most cases) fear these people. They simply do not fit into our society. One can even make the case that they don’t fit into any civilized society. I don’t dislike and fear them because they are from another country. I dislike and fear them because of their beliefs and behavior. I fear for my children not being able to live in a country unwilling to protect them for fear of being politically incorrect. There is nothing irrational about that. So call me a xenophobe all you want. It doesn’t change the fact that we simply cannot allow these types of people to continue pouring into our country. It goes against everything this country stands for. Unfortunately, we don’t have an effective way to determine which of the millions of potential immigrants attempting to get here are the murderers, slavers, drug smugglers, wife beaters and rapists. I vote we err on the side of caution. We’ve already proven that once here, keeping track of or removing these animals is next to impossible. Too often we learn of their bad intentions only after we count the bodies left in their wake.