{"id":3395,"date":"2015-12-11T08:47:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T14:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3395"},"modified":"2015-12-11T08:47:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T14:47:38","slug":"recommended-reading-on-trump-immigration-and-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/12\/recommended-reading-on-trump-immigration-and-islam.html","title":{"rendered":"Recommended reading: on Trump, Immigration, and Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

First, from Charles Krauthammer (in this case, in the Washington Post<\/a>): \u00a0\u201cWhy take the Trump stunt seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n

I decline to join the chorus denouncing the Trump proposal as offensive and un-American. That\u2019s too obvious. What I can\u2019t get over is its sheer absurdity. . . .<\/p>\n

Dozens of others have already pointed out how strategically idiotic is Trump\u2019s exclusion principle. Absent a renewed Christian crusade against radical Islam \u2014 with those fabulous Hollywood-wardrobe tunics \u2014 the war on terror will be won only in alliance with moderate Muslims. Declaring them anathema is not the best beginning to coalition-building.<\/p>\n

To take but the most obvious example: Our closest and most effective allies on the ground in the Middle East are the Kurds. Trump would turn them back at the Orlando airport. No Disney World for them. Or does he not know that they are Muslim?<\/p>\n

It is embarrassing even to embark on such arguments. To treat \u201cno Muslims allowed\u201d as a serious idea is to give credit to what is little more than a clever stunt by a man who saw Ted Cruz beating him for the first time in the Iowa Monmouth poll and five hours later decided it was time to seize the stage again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From David Frum at The Atlantic<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cAmerica\u2019s Immigration Challenge\u201d, for which there is no simple quote I can cull to represent the key argument in the piece; go read the whole thing. \u00a0It\u2019s very data heavy, arguing that we shouldn\u2019t let American notions of welcoming the stranger blind us to the fact that our immigrants are largely uneducated, and not able to engage in the self-improvement that we romanticize as a part of the Immigrant Story based on our stories of our grandparents and great-grandparents. \u00a0Somali refugees, and their relatives brought in by chain migration, came from cultures in which education didn\u2019t exist, and, both here and in Europe, they are far more likely to be unemployed and welfare-dependent than\u00a0the population at large. \u00a0Syrian refugees, again, much as their advocates claim they\u2019re highly-educated, aren\u2019t, for the most part: \u00a0\u201cIn 2010, the average Syrian had less than six years of schooling, less even than Egypt, according to the UN Development Index. Women were systematically subordinated: Only a quarter of Syrian women completed secondary education; only 13 percent participated in the workforce.\u201d \u00a0From doesn\u2019t make a blanket statement of \u201cno immigration\u201d but his bottom line is really that we should be clear-eyed about the impact of these policies.<\/p>\n

And a third piece, by David French at the National Review<\/a>, \u201cThe Hidden Reason Why Americans Dislike Islam\u201d, from an author who was in Iraq himself:<\/p>\n

I wonder if the media is missing a powerful, largely-uncovered influence on America\u2019s hearts and minds \u2014 the experience and testimony of the more than two million Americans who\u2019ve served overseas since 9\/11 and have experienced Islamic cultures up-close.<\/p>\n

Yes, they were in the middle of a war \u2014 but speaking from my own experience \u2014 the war was conducted from within a culture that was shockingly broken. I expected the jihadists to be evil, but even I couldn\u2019t fathom the depths of their depravity. And it was all occurring against the backdrop of a brutally violent and intolerant culture. Women were beaten almost as an afterthought, there was a near-total lack of empathy for even friends and neighbors, lying was endemic, and sexual abuse was rampant. Even more disturbingly, it seemed that every problem was exacerbated the more religious and pious a person (or village) became. . . .<\/p>\n

Two million Americans have been downrange, and they\u2019ve come home and told families and friends stories the media rarely tells.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So since I don\u2019t have anything to offer this morning, I invite you to read these and tell me what you think.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, from Charles Krauthammer (in this case, in the Washington Post): \u00a0\u201cWhy take the Trump stunt seriously?\u201d I decline to join the chorus denouncing the Trump proposal as offensive and un-American. That\u2019s too obvious. What I can\u2019t get over is its sheer absurdity. . . . Dozens of others have already pointed out how strategically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRecommended reading: on Trump, Immigration, and Islam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"First, from Charles Krauthammer (in this case, in the Washington Post): \u00a0"Why take the Trump stunt seriously?" 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