Are the religious tests location-specific?

Please keep in mind that this rant is about media bias.

Before I get to that, I thought that we wanted a government blind to a person’s religion. We saw what happened in Germany. Also, I thought we wanted Congress to determine immigration policy. True, I did not object when President Obama made it easier for people to come here from Mexico, without the consent of Congress. I figured that people who come here from Mexico to work have it hard enough. I admit to that bias.

President Obama’s decisions on enforcement of immigration policy did not raise First Amendment issues, as President Trump’s decisions probably will. However, I heard Reince Priebus say on Face The Nation this morning that Muslim minority members will be given some slack in President Trump’s restrictions, as well as Christians. This makes things a little different in my mind. We’re still using a religious test, but it makes the issue more political, and not just religious. 

The conflicts between Shia and Sunni Muslims are political as well as religious. The Sunni members of ISIS want to kill Shia Muslims just as much - if not more than - Christians. The fact that exceptions apply to Muslim minorities is an important detail for the media to leave out. Face The Nation even left it out of their article on this morning’s interview with Priebus. I found a mention of it in New York Magazine.

So, here’s my question for the media: Are the religious tests location-specific? That is, if a person is trying to come here from ISIS-controlled and Sunni-dominated Syria, will he or she find it easier if he or she claims to be Shia? Iran is predominantly Shia, and persecutes Sunni Muslims. If a person is trying to get here from Iran, will he or she find it easier if he or she claims to be Sunni? If so, the issue becomes more of a political and security issue than a religious one.

If the religious tests are location-specific, Reince Priebus, why haven’t you said so? Are you afraid of disappointing those who want to keep all Muslims out of the country? I didn’t hear President Trump say anything about exceptions for Muslim minorities when he announced the travel restrictions. 

If the religious tests are not location-specific, do the exceptions apply only to Christians traveling here from Iran? Won’t that make it more difficult for persecuted Sunnis to get out of Iran? Don’t we want to help all people who are trying to get out of Iran because they face religious persecution there?

Dear Mainstream Media: I agree that religious tests are hare-brained and un-American, but please let us reach that conclusion on our own. Ask more questions. Explain the conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims. You damage your credibility when you leave out important information and sensationalize the actions of public officials. Not only that, but you give more credibility to public officials who claim that you have a political agenda. You guys are supposed to be objective and unbiased, even on hot-button issues.

We all bleed the same color

I heard echoes of my father’s words in President Donald Trump’s inaugural address. My father served in the U.S. Army in the 1950s, when the armed services still struggled with racial integration. When Mr. Trump reminded us that “we all bleed the same color,” I remembered hearing my father argue with someone about the desegregation of public schools in the 1960s. My father pointed out that - at that very moment - there were men getting shot at in Vietnam whose children had to attend second-rate schools because of their skin color.

I’m glad to hear that our new president supports racial equality. I just wonder if the guy is for real. I mean, our new president is one of those people who is famous for being famous. He has proved that name recognition wins elections. Just to give you an idea of how I thought of Donald Trump before his presidential campaign:  After I saw the inauguration on TV, I wanted to call my dad and tell him that I had a dream in which Ted Baxter got elected president. My dad thought Ted Baxter was pretty hilarious back in the day. The old fellow is in his 80s now, though. I don’t know if his heart could take it.

I hope we remember that citizens and soldiers of all religions bleed the same color. President Trump may be specific in his words about “extreme Islamic terrorism,” but his ardent supporters seem to want to apply this fear to all Muslims. I fear a Kristallnacht. Only this time, it’ll be Muslims getting their heads cracked and their stores burned to the ground, instead of Jews.

I’m glad to hear that our new president addressed decaying infrastructure and an ineffectual education system, but he won’t say anything about his violations of the emoluments clause of the United States Constitution. I’m glad to hear that he wants to drain the swamp in Washington, but he might make things better a lot sooner by draining the swamp on Wall Street. We stand to lose more jobs to robots than to low-wage workers in other countries, but Mr. Trump has not addressed job loss due to automation.

I will do as friends have asked, and give our new president a chance. I just hope that one friend is wrong about Mr. Trump losing interest and resigning before he finishes a full term. The day after the inauguration had a controversy about how the press reported inauguration attendance. The guy seems more pathetic than most politicians in wanting everyone to like him. He may decide the job’s not for him if he doesn’t get the adoration he expects.