As the daughter of a refugee—one newborn among 1000 “undesirable aliens” fleeing Stalin’s terror which Canada allowed entry in 1930—I thank you for your rational and insightful Nov. 18 editorial. In “Fear ourselves more than terrorism” you urge readers to fear the paranoia spawned by social media platforms. Indeed.
What we all must fear first is our individual fears. We must always examine and control irrational thoughts by holding them up to the facts.
Without taking away the horror of attacks throughout the world, we would do well to remember that statistically, threats to our lives from many things which we live with quite comfortably on a daily basis are more likely to do us in than any act of terror.
While we must exercise our due diligence and all caution during the vetting process, we shouldn’t slam the doors on those who need our help most because of any groundless fears.
Lynda Grace Philippsen