Donald Trump got the attention he was seeking with his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. Much like Lady Gaga who lives for "the applause, applause, applause," The Donald lives for those cameras rolling. When he makes sensational comments, they do, and his poll numbers rise. This is just what Trump wanted after seeing Ted Cruz on his heels and a 12% drop among his own base in recent weeks.
There are many problems with this proposal, other than the obvious.
Terrorist attacks have occurred in the United States since 1837.
And the vast majority of those are carried out by non-Muslims.
According to a recent study by The New America Foundation, white supremacist groups and radical anti-government groups were responsible for the majority of threats and attacks since September 11x.
And many of those White Supremacists call themselves Christians.
Yet The Donald says we should blame Islam and fear Muslims.
Even today as I write this, there's a new case involving a White Supremacist. Authorities are not calling it a foiled terrorist plot. Yet, he blew off his leg while building pipe bombs/IED's in his stepfather's garage. Could it be because he's a white guy who doesn't have a Muslim name? Also, it's not on the front page, but articles about Muslims are.
For the purpose of full disclosure, I am the product of a Jewish and Christian parent. In the search for my own religious identity, I have read the Bible (both old and new Testaments) cover to cover on more than one occasion. When I met and fell in love with the man who is now my husband, a man raised in a Muslim home, I read the Q'uran cover to cover. I did this to know what it really states, as opposed to what I read through various blogs.
This is what I discovered: Muslims, like Christians and Jews, believe in and follow The Ten Commandments, one of which is Thou Shalt Not Murder. Muslims consider Jesus a Holy Prophet, just like Mohammed, and they believe in the Virgin birth and Christ's resurrection.
As for Muslims being ordered by Mohammed to kill all nonbelievers, that is not true. They are instructed to fight in combat against oppressors, aggressors and terrorists. It also clearly states not to fight against those who are not fighting against you. The word used in the Q'uran for kill is not Jihad, it is Qital; which if you look at the Arabic translation, literally means killing in a military capacity only. So the idea that 1.6 billion people, nearly one-quarter of the earth's population, are terrorists is both naïve and ignorant.
Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh was a Catholic. The KKK has claimed to be a Christian organization. In the 1800s, when America experienced its first terrorist attacks, there were Mormon terrorists. But let's be honest, McVeigh, the KKK, someone who walks into a Planned Parenthood clinic and kills people, are not Christian. They do not follow any religion. Nor did the terrorists in San Bernardino, Paris, Syria, etc. The things they have in common are hatred, lack of respect for human life and lethal weapons.
The first time a radicalized Islamist committed an act of terrorism on U.S. soil was in 1993. Yet Muslims have been coming to this country since the 17th century.
Also, if ISIS members are Muslim, then why are their victims mostly Muslims?
Since the San Bernardino attacks, we have learned that one of the victims was Muslim. She was not only Farook's co-worker, but she attended the same mosque. He looked her in the eye and shot her four times. She is recovering, but there is still a bullet lodged in her stomach.
The first responder at the scene was Dr. Michael Neeki. He is an Iranian-born Muslim. He is also a physician who was willing to walk into a building with active shooters to fulfill his duties as a doctor. He was the first to treat victims on the scene as well.
There are Muslims fighting in our armed forces, willing to take a bullet for our freedoms. They're our teachers, engineers, lawyers, doctors and two are our Congressmen. My in-laws, both retired physicians, came to the United States 60 years ago. My mother-in-law, a devout Muslim who wears a hijab (head scarf), has delivered over 3,000 children into the world - here in the United States. My father-in-law was a general surgeon who saved hundreds of lives over the span of his career. And my husband, who was raised Muslim but does not practice, has helped put Humpty Dumpty back together again both here and abroad when there are disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, or terrorist attacks, as an orthopedic surgeon.
No religion condones killing. And no religion should be blamed for murder. Although the terrorists in San Bernardino are referred to as Muslims, they are not. They were radicalized murderers who pledged their allegiance to ISIS.
ISIS are terrorists. Terrorists worship power and murder, not God. They have no religion.