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.

That's Idolatry

I need to start this essay with a reminder to myself as I write words that could offend many who happen to read them:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

This is the first and great commandment. 

And the second is like unto it.  THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.  (Leviticus 19:18)

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22: 36-40

I wish to obey these commandments as I write.  The citation has the word "prophets."  Many people around the world feel deeply offended because of an amateurish video that mocks a prophet.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.  (Emphasis added)

The Arab League, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the prime minister of Pakistan have requested that the United Nations pass a resolution that would urge member nations to pass laws against blasphemy.  This latest effort has the support of the European Union and the Secretary General of the United Nations.  Muslims have been working on worldwide blasphemy laws since 1999, with little support outside of the Muslim world.  They were placated somewhat in late 2011 when the UN passed a resolution calling for an end to religious discrimination and religious profiling.

I may know more than most Americans about Islam, but that is not saying much.  I have known individuals who have converted to Islam.  I have seen the conversion bring about dramatic and positive changes in their lives.  It is important to keep in mind that a Muslim family holds the keys to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem because of continual squabbling among Christian sects.  I heard shortly after September 11, 2001 that the Prophet Mohammed said that the greatest jihad a man can conduct is a jihad against his own shortcomings.  These things lead me to believe that the teachings of Mohammed have been corrupted, just as the teachings of Buddha and Christ have been corrupted.

Defining blasphemy is part of the problem with blasphemy laws.  President Obama did a good job of addressing this point in his speech to the United Nations in September.  He pointed out that blasphemy can be so vaguely defined that blasphemy laws can be used to prosecute and oppress the powerless.

I would want to be confronted if I engaged in idolatry, so I say to my Muslim neighbors that they are idol worshipers.  Muslims are busy destroying idols in many parts of the world, but they worship the Prophet Mohammed as an idol.  The proof of this can be found in efforts to pass blasphemy laws and in killings of people who had nothing to do with the production of The Innocence of Muslims.  If people are willing to kill because a prophet was mocked, those people have turned a prophet into an idol.

Muslims will correctly state that we in the west have plenty of idols of our own:  Santa Claus, cats, bacon and celebrities.  Christians have shown great religious intolerance in centuries past by conducting crusades and inquisitions.  I hope that Muslims learn from these mistakes rather than imitate them.  I hope my Muslim neighbors keep in mind that many Christians regard the whole religion of Islam as blasphemous.  Many Jews might regard both Christianity and Islam as blasphemous.  The unintended consequences of blasphemy laws are difficult to imagine.  Jesus of Nazareth was accused of blasphemy and he started a whole new religion.

I used to think of the United Nations as an under-used vehicle for world peace.  If it takes positions on religion in the name of tolerance, I question whether the United States should be a member.