During the weeks that followed the August 21st Syrian chemical war attacks in and around Damascus, I have never heard so many people question our responsibility as a country to step in on a cause that is this severe .  Moreover, the place that, surprisingly, I heard people question why we should help the Syrian citizens most was here at Bishop Noll.  Bishop Noll, a Catholic school.  Catholic literally means universal.  Everyone knows Christ’s New Commandment, “…that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”.  So is there even really a question as to whether or not we have a responsibility to Syria?
What exactly that responsibility is, is not definite.
What is definite, though, is that the Assad regime had planned and carried out 14 separate chemical weapons attacks, that 1,429 people were killed and countless others suffering through horrific symptoms, and that the Assad regime broke an international law that day.  Now some may say that it is the United Nation’s job to handle this conflict, which is true.  The UN usually does have the responsibility of enforcing international law, but the point of uniting as country against the Assad regime’s actions is to show that we are not okay with what is happening.  President Obama said it perfectly: “ When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory.”
Way too many atrocities happen all over the world.  Genocide is all too common.  And no, one country cannot be there for every single civil war.  It’s wishful thinking to imagine America solving everyone else’s problems, especially when we as a country suffer from a 46 and a half million poverty rate.  But because our nation is in bad shape in some ways is not an excuse to turn a blind eye to a dictator who gassed almost 15 hundred of his own citizens.  Chemical weaponry was used in World War II, and imagine how different history would be if someone had stepped in when Hitler was given dictatorial powers in Germany.
What would America be, if not for our heroic spirit? For our reputation of picking up falling countries around the world?  Yes, we need some personal work done.  America is patchy, with flaws in our economy and politics.  But we are not dealing with a dictatorship who inflicts extreme warfare on us.  Sometimes it is okay to put others before ourselves.  Jesus lived for other people. I’m not suggesting that America is Christ-like, and I’m also not saying that we should use Christ as our mascot.  But I am saying that if you are any denomination of Christianity, the thought of giving the cold shoulder to Syria really should not cross your mind.
In a perfect world, the UN would sit down at a long table in a conference room with the Assad regime and talk things out.  That is simply not how things work.  I am personally against war, and I do not believe that war is the answer for the problem that Syria poses.  However, I do believe in the plan of action that President Obama has laid out.  In case you didn’t already know, the President plans to take a more diplomatic approach at first and basically convince Syria to let someone else destroy their chemical weapon stock.  If that doesn’t work, then we will send a targeted military air strike on the chemical weapons to discourage the regime’s use of them and basically threaten their government to let us actually destroy the supply.  The President openly assures us that American boots will not hit Syrian soil.  We will not go to war with Syria.  This I agree with.
As of right now, with the things that have happened/are happening in Syria, I do not believe in a war.  My reasoning for not believing in war with them, though, is not that I don’t think it’s our responsibility, so please do not think that.  I believe the exact opposite.  I believe that not only as Americans, not as Christians, but as PEOPLE, we have a responsibility to helping the people of Syria.  How we help them is not up to me, and I would never be so foolish as to think that I am intellectually equipped to decide exactly what path is best to take.  I do know that we should take some kind of path, and down that path, avoid any type of violent, casualty-causing steps.