In a post published on Facebook last Wednesday, Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, announced his support of Donald Trump’s proposed moratorium on Muslim immigration. Graham said in his post that he has “been saying that Muslim immigration into the United States should be stopped until we can properly vet them or until the war with Islam is over“ for “some time.”
Based on Graham’s earlier statements, it’s quite likely he intended to refer to either “radical” Islam or Islamic terrorism, and not the entire religion. He wasn’t finished, however.
“Research shows that there are 2.75 million Muslims living in the U.S.,” he added. He continued, citing a study conducted earlier this year by the Center for Security Policy.
According to that study, he said, “51 percent of Muslims living in America believe ‘Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to sharia’ (Islamic law) instead of the U.S. Constitution, 29 percent agree that violence against those who insult Mohammad is acceptable, and 25 percent agree that violence against America can be justified as part of global jihad. Among males under the age of 45, that number rises to 36 percent. And 29 percent of males under 45 believe that violence against America is justified in order to make Sharia the law of the land.
“This,” he added, “is frightening.”
A post at Townhall observed that “California Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez says that we may not have a full understanding of how many Muslims believe that violence is acceptable to spread Islam.”
“But certainly, we know that there is a small group, and we don’t know how big that is — it can be anywhere between 5 and 20 percent, from the people that I speak to — that Islam is their religion and who have a desire for a caliphate and to institute that in any way possible, and in particular go after what they consider Western norms — our way of life,” she said.
Do the math. Five percent of 2.75 million is 137,500. Twenty percent of that same figure equals 550,000. By comparison, the United States had about 425,000 troops in the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
It only took two to kill 14 in San Bernardino, and less than 20 to take down the World Trade Center in 2001. Only a fool would ignore the potential security threat faced by all Americans.
Politicians and pundits on both sides of the political aisle have soundly criticized Trump for his proposal. Additionally, others have weighed in with the obligatory calls to murder Trump and his supporters.
Despite the criticism, a growing number of voters have said they approve of what Trump has proposed. Last Thursday, Rasmussen reported that over 60 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of all likely voters support the idea of a moratorium.
Forty percent of all those polled oppose the plan, while 14 percent remain undecided.
I am so troubled by those statistics and numbers. This is a serious challenge that obviously matters to the general voting public. I have not been a Trump supporter but I can’t deny that he is speaking a view that is shared by many Americans. So how do we address the reality those stats reveal and yet not devolve into a lot of the ugly xenophobic rhetoric that is coming out in this debate?
This will trouble you even further, Eric. A poll released yesterday shows that support for Trump’s plan has grown to 50 percent. Take Trump’s name off the question and support goes up by five points while opposition drops by six points.
You ask a fair question, Eric, and it’s one I intend to address in an upcoming post.
It’s absolutely an irrational fear. WAY more people have been killed in this country by Christian extremists than Muslim extremists, and no one is proposing we stop letting Christians into the country. In fact, almost as many people have been shot by DOGS as have been by Muslims, and I don’t hear anyone calling for a great canine purge.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/27/a-dog-shoots-a-person-almost-every-year-in-america/
The Center for Security Policy is a known disreputable organization. They engage in spreading conspiracy theories and Islamophobia. This article has no merit and I would urge you to think twice about where you get your information. You are spreading fear through blatant lies.
Admir, clearly you’re new here. 🙂
If only there were any studies/evidence/investigation to see if anyone was doing this with Christianity…..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp
Question, Joe. When this country was founded, we knew of the thousand-plus-year-old religion of Islam. Do you believe we should have barred Islam from America?