Doug Ealy called the unfortunate meme above to my attention.
Please understand that I’m a life-long and very serious political conservative. Moreover, I’m a hardcore Anglophile and Europhile. I think very highly of Western civilization. I’m happy to have been born and raised within it, and I’m proud of the many rich artistic, scientific, literary, philosophical, medical, humanitarian, and musical contributions that it has offered to the world. My undergraduate major was in Greek, with a minor in philosophy. I served my mission in German-speaking Switzerland. And I’ve read my Russell Kirk, and so forth. I’m passionate about Shakespeare and classical music, etc., and etc., and etc.
There’s no question that European Christian contributions to the United States have been pivotal and formative.
But to insinuate that only European Christians built this nation is grossly wrong.
African slaves also built this nation. Jews also built this nation, and continue to do so. Chinese laborers built substantial portions of our railroad system, and non-Christian Asian immigrants continue to contribute enormously to this nation.
Let’s have no crypto-racism here. Nonwhites have been major participants in the construction of the United States of America. And it was constructed on land claimed, before the European arrival, by native Americans.
As I say, I’m a conservative. And, as I’ve repeatedly said, I tend heavily libertarian on economic issues. I oppose welfare dependency and anything that savors of socialism.
But to target Muslims uniquely as collectors of welfare is manifestly unfair.
And to suggest that Muslims have typically or even in significant numbers come here to wage jihad and to replace the Constitution of the United States with shari‘a law is simply, flatly, unambiguously either innocently false or a brazen lie. (See some of my recent comments here.)
Posted from Newport Beach, California
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