How can we successfully interact with Afghan refugees we may meet soon?

joymercy

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Currently there are tens of thousands of Afghan refugees currently stationed at American military bases.

If more people of the Muslim faith from Afghanistan happen to encounter us in every day life, what and how should we say or respond to them?

So we have things in common?

What do fellow Catholics say or do when meeting them?

Would you share anything about the faith?

I ask this in light of a recent thread on CF that helps to explain the concerns, and if you review it you might better understand that I'm asking us Catholics how we would handle this situation in general: The problem with Afghan Refugees
 
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joymercy

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So far, when encountering many people of the Muslim faith, most respond well to a simple smile.

I have found the women to be very friendly and love to talk about clothes and cooking.

Some told me they knew who Mary was and point to my medal....its a starting point.
 
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Michie

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Currently there are tens of thousands of Afghan refugees currently stationed at American military bases.

If more people of the Muslim faith from Afghanistan happen to encounter us in every day life, what and how should we say or respond to them?

So we have things in common?

What do fellow Catholics say or do when meeting them?

Would you share anything about the faith?
I’d say just be a good witness for our faith. Show them the difference. The last thing they need is a debate or pushiness. Pray for them. Just live by example. Show them God’s love. Let them feel they can follow their dreams. They grew up in a situation where they had no choice. Let our example be their choice.
 
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Sword of the Lord

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6 feet apart with a mask on.

Just kidding.

I guess I'm confused by your question too. You interact with them just like you would any other person... If you even come into contact with them. They're not, like, sub human animals or diseased creatures or something. They're human beings.

Do you mean to ask, how do we witness to them? Be a good human being. Imagine being a refugee and upon landing you have people in your face preaching Jesus. That helps absolutely nobody; not you, not them, and not the faith. It will turn them off fast. Just be kind. It's that simple.
 
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Bob Crowley

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Some told me they knew who Mary was and point to my medal....its a starting point.

Mary is held in high regard in Islam.

Mary in Islam - Wikipedia

Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote an article entitled "Mary and the Moslems" way back in the 1950's long before the Moslem world started to become resurgent, which you might find interesting.

https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net/1053/documents/2014/9/Back_to_the_Future.pdf

Meanwhile Mary has turned up in quite a number of approved apparitions. My old Protestant pastor said to me about Marian Apparitions "There's been a lot of them...", "They line up with Scripture ..." and "I think they're a judgement on a divided church."

Rest assured one of the reasons that Christianity is going backwards in the West is it's divisions. As Christ said -

Matthew 12:25 NIV "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

Admittedly He was replying to the Pharisees who accused Him of getting His power from Satan. But the basic principle remains. If we continue to remain divided, our house will not stand.
 
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joymercy

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I put this out there, because there have been very many fellow Catholics in various parishes I have attended who have very negative thoughts regarding Muslims, yet we are all going to have to deal with the fact that there are refugees here that will be resettled into the USA.

If our country rescued them, only to have the citizenry reject and hate on them, what does that say about us?

Do we break bread together, do we try and find commonalities or do we just hate and talk about our AR-15's after mass in the parking lot as I have experienced.
 
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joymercy

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Sword of the Lord

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I ask this in light of a recent thread on CF that helps to explain the concerns, and if you review it you might better understand that I'm asking us Catholics how we would handle this situation in general: The problem with Afghan Refugees
That thread was posted a half hour ago. You can't ask in light of that thread when your thread beat it by 24 hours.
 
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joymercy

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That thread was posted a half hour ago. You can't ask in light of that thread when your thread beat it by 24 hours.
reworded it....its a helpful thread to understand what I am trying to say at least.
 
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eastcoast_bsc

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I put this out there, because there have been very many fellow Catholics in various parishes I have attended who have very negative thoughts regarding Muslims, yet we are all going to have to deal with the fact that there are refugees here that will be resettled into the USA.

If our country rescued them, only to have the citizenry reject and hate on them, what does that say about us?

Do we break bread together, do we try and find commonalities or do we just hate and talk about our AR-15's after mass in the parking lot as I have experienced.


Who discusses AR15’s after Mass? Where do you live?
 
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