ON MUSLIMS AND TERRORISM

During this election, and for the past years terrorism has been a topic of discussion and debate among politicians, lawmakers, and citizens of the world.  During this election period Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has come out and adamantly stated that he will prohibit the entry of any Muslim into this country until we figure out who is here, and why.

This has caused outrage and disgust among many people because we are a country with an open door policy towards immigrants and visitors.  Hundreds of thousands of visas are granted annually to foreigners to visit our country, to work in our country, to study in our country, and to move to our country.  Some of the people who are fortunate enough to obtain these visas sometimes overstay their welcome and become illegals in our country with little or no repercussion.  Albeit a terrible practice, in the past it has not been a great area of concern.

Speak to many Latinos, and they are offended at what Mr. Trump wants.  Many anti-Trump Americans equate this to acts similar to those committed by Hitler, one of the great political demons of the world.  But how wrong is it to want to implement this freeze on arrivals when what we are facing is a clear and present danger. 

During the first quarter of 2016 there have been 24 terrorist attacks worldwide.  Not on our soil, but worldwide.  You may ask how does this affect us as a nation, and why should we buckle down and close the door to a particular group of people just because of their religious beliefs?  They can’t all be terrorists.  They can’t all want to cause harm to our way of life.  Can they?

It is difficult question to ask, and a harder one to answer.  The answer we all want to hear is NO.  All Muslims are not out to make us forcibly succumb to their religious beliefs.  They believe in freedom of religion for others, don’t they?  We don’t want this to be true because many of us have met, and are friends with people who are Muslims, and they seem perfectly fine and similar to us.  So why would we want to ban other Muslims?  It would be like banning our friends. The sad reality is that the number of terrorist attacks are rising.  In 2015 there were 117 terrorist attacks worldwide.  What did the terrorists have in common?  They were Muslims.  Extremists, Jihadists or whatever you want to call them, but they were Muslims. 

This is not 1945.  The world as we know it has changed drastically.  Intel is open to hackers.  Information is passed all around the globe undetected many times until it is too late.  When it comes to terrorism, we are the Monday morning quarterbacks.   What many people don’t think of, because it is rarely mentioned in the media is that the Middle East is not the only place where these individuals want to take over.  They are imposing their will all over Africa.  We may not care because most of us look at Africa as a distant land full of people living in squalor, what do we care?  We should.  If we felt disgusted about what Hitler did to the Jewish people then we should feel equally as disgusted with what these savages are doing to the people around the world including the ones living in squalor in Africa.  As their movement makes its way across the globe, and they continue taking over parts of different countries and oil fields, as well as other natural resources, it could get a lot closer to us before we even realize it, by then it may be too late. 

Being an immigrant I can say that under regular circumstances I too would support entry of anyone who can legally come into this country from any race, religion or cultural background, both for political or economic reasons.  However, given the state of affairs, I bend more to The Donald’s view in this matter. 

If I were a Muslim American citizen in this country I would feel the same way I feel right now as a non-Muslim.  My main concern would be the welfare and safety of my family, and then my religion.  I would support any movement towards resolution and safety.   I would be angry that there are those who share my faith that are causing such destruction and turmoil in the world in the name of my Lord.  I would want them banished and eradicated.  I would not want to be associated with them in any way, shape or form, because their views are not my views.  Their interpretation of the Quran is not my interpretation, and their actions against humanity are not ones that I support.  I would stand by my government and say “keep everyone out until we know who is who”.  This is not a matter of discrimination.  This is not a matter of profiling.  This is a matter of world security, not national security, world security.  How many people have to die or be maimed for the world to take notice, for all the good peace loving Muslims to come out against those who share their faith, but not their values?  I know I would. 

There will always be people who see this as instilling hatred of a particular group, or politically incorrect, or whatever other apologist term that makes them feel better.  I won’t apologize for wanting my loved ones to be safe.  I won’t apologize for not wanting to turn on the TV in the morning to hear that yet there was another terrorist attack somewhere in the world killing innocent people on their way to work, or to visit family or on vacation.  This is unacceptable to me, and to continue to stick our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not our problem, and that the group that is committing these heinous crimes are not really Muslims is stupid and dangerous.  It is detrimental to our way of life, and humanity.

This is not a ploy to ask you to vote for Trump or any other candidate.  This is a voice of alarm, this is a voice of warning.  We must all come together and fight to protect what we have. By all, I don’t exclude anyone, only those who wish to be excluded because they don’t share a desire to protect our country or our way of life.  This is one nation under God, whoever your God is, we are still ONE NATION.  Let’s be indivisible.  Let’s be just.