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By now, the anti-Muslim backlash we witness after every fresh terror attack is not all that surprising. Bigots will be bigots, and they are not known for complexity or nuance in the face of … well, anything.
What makes it more unsettling this time is that while in decades past the top Republican in the country has denounced Islamophobia, this time around Republican candidates for the presidency have fallen over themselves to be ever more hateful toward Muslims.
A full 23 governors (most of them Republicans) announced on Monday that they would not welcome Syrian refugees into their borders, while Jeb Bush noticeably departed from his brother’s more measured words and declared that we should screen people by religion – accepting only Christian refugees and not Muslim ones into America.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, then mused on national television that we should look at shutting down mosques.
All of this from the party of “religious freedom.”
We could wax on about how hypocritical they are for thinking religious freedom means actively discriminating against gays or denying your employees birth control, as opposed to, you know, shutting down houses of worship. But their mentality seems far darker than mere hypocrisy.
Need it even be said in this day and age? To turn one’s back on refugees is the epitome of anti-Christian action.
When Jesus was asked what one must do to attain eternal life… [Read more…] about Kicking the Samaritan: Christianity and the Anti-Muslim Backlash