According to the Washington Post and Bloomberg, Trump’s ban did not include any of the Muslim-majority countries where the Trump Organization — which is now being run by his sons — holds business interests. Those countries reportedly include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, the U.A.E. and Azerbaijan.
News reports are saying that Bissonnette is known to express anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments on social media. A friend of Bissonnette's said he was 'clearly pro-Trump' and 'anti-immigration.'rstrong wrote:No word yet on Alexandre Bissonnette's motives or religion.
Vrede too wrote:How Many (fatal) Terrorist Attacks in the U.S. Have Been Carried Out by Immigrants from the 7 Banned Muslim Countries?
As billy.pilgrim has mentioned:Spoiler:According to the Washington Post and Bloomberg, Trump’s ban did not include any of the Muslim-majority countries where the Trump Organization — which is now being run by his sons — holds business interests. Those countries reportedly include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, the U.A.E. and Azerbaijan.
"pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist"rstrong wrote:News reports are saying that Bissonnette is known to express anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments on social media. A friend of Bissonnette's said he was 'clearly pro-Trump' and 'anti-immigration.'rstrong wrote:No word yet on Alexandre Bissonnette's motives or religion.
Anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, anti-women's rights, pro-Trump.Vrede too wrote:"pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist"rstrong wrote:News reports are saying that Bissonnette is known to express anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments on social media. A friend of Bissonnette's said he was 'clearly pro-Trump' and 'anti-immigration.'rstrong wrote:No word yet on Alexandre Bissonnette's motives or religion.
Trump's 'extreme vetting' would ban him from USWhy Franklin Graham Is Yet Again the Worst Thing to Happen to God in a While
... It’s amazing how anybody lets this guy roam about in scripture without adult supervision....
Good God. It’s difficult to know even where to begin to address the impoverished interpretive twaddle put forward by Franklin Graham on the subject of our responsibilities to immigrants and refugees.
... do you want to know what gets mentioned more often than any other juridical principle? Some variation of “Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, or the stranger (i.e., foreigner).” More than three dozen times this injunction appears. Like, say this one from the prophet Zechariah:
”Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another” (7:9–10).
Or more specifically for my purposes, this one from Deuteronomy:
”You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (10:18).
Or this one from Leviticus:
”When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your G-d” (19:33–34).
Ok. You get the point. The Hebrew scriptures are pretty well convinced that the way God’s people treat refugees and immigrants is of more than passing concern to the Almighty.
“Fine,” you say, “but what about Jesus? What did he have to say about it? Maybe that’s what Franklin’s talking about. Probably. He knows things.”
The low hanging fruit in the case is, of course, the fact that Jesus and his family were refugees. Chased out of their homeland by King Herod when Jesus was but a baby, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have an intimate understanding about what being a political refugee seeking asylum feels like. I find it impossible to believe that Jesus views the plight of immigrants and refugees to be a point of indifference—if only because that’s his own experience.
Or take the parable of the sheep and the goats, in which Jesus lays out what will distinguish those who do God’s will from those who do not:
”Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me’” (Matt. 25:34–36).
Jesus also tells the story of the good Samaritan in Luke 10. A lawyer who has asked what he must do to inherit eternal life is told by Jesus that, basically, he must perform the heart of the law, which amounts to “Love God and love your neighbor.” The lawyer famously asks, “Who is my neighbor?” And the parable of the good Samaritan is Jesus’ answer to that question.
According to the parable, then, the neighbor winds up being the one who acts with kindness toward the person in need. The irony, of course, is that the neighbor in the parable—in a great show of nationalist nose-tweaking by Jesus—is a Samaritan, which is to say, a despised foreigner.
Needless to say, the bible (both Hebrew and Christian) not only has an opinion about how we treat immigrants and refugees, it’s arguably at the very center of biblical faith....
Look, we’re not idiots. Franklin Graham’s agenda has always been driven less by his penetrating insight into the bible than by his driving passion to insinuate himself into the world of power politics. And if that ambition runs afoul of the bible, so much the worse for the bible.
Which is why Franklin Graham is yet again the worst thing to happen to God in a while.
Question: Are refugees that land in the US and their children more likely to become violent terrorists than ones that land in Canada because US culture and policy are more violent and terrorist?Donald Trump’s travel ban to take centre stage in (Canada's) House of Commons Tuesday
U.S. President Donald Trump’s contentious travel ban is set to hit the floor of the House of Commons Tuesday evening when MPs launch into an emergency debate on the issue.
“I never imagined in my entire life that I would witness a democratic country, much less our closest ally and neighbour, come forward with a ban that is based on race, religion and your place of birth,” said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, who initiated the debate with a request to the House Speaker Sunday....
“There is no question that this ban promotes hate and intolerance,” Kwan told reporters Tuesday morning. “Canada must step up to do its part.” ...
Ahead of tonight’s debate, Kwan laid out some actions she and the NDP want to see the government take:
-- Lift the 1,000-application cap for private sponsorship of Syrian refugees in Canada.
-- Fast track refugee applications approved in the U.S. prior to the start of the ban on Friday, or whose U.S. applications were near completion.
-- Work with international community to address shortfall of refugee resettlement resources.
-- Immediately suspend the “safe third country” agreement between Canada and the U.S., which would open the door for refugees in the States to seek asylum in Canada.
...
I doubt that US gun culture makes any significant difference.Vrede too wrote:Question: Are refugees that land in the US and their children more likely to become violent terrorists than ones that land in Canada because US culture and policy are more violent and terrorist?
Agreed, but I do wonder if America's adoration for violent solutions to problems has an impact that's reduced in Canada. Either way, the odds are extremely low.rstrong wrote:... What would make a difference is acceptance, inclusion and assimilation. Label someone a terrorist, treat them like as an outsider, subject them to random attacks by the alt-right, and you're much more likely to get a terrorist....
Jared Kushner’s (Polish Jewish) grandmother on life as a refugee: ‘Nobody wanted us’Vrede too wrote:Simon Helberg and Wife Protest Trump’s Refugee Ban at SAG Awards: ‘Let Them In’
Fwiw, Simon Helberg is a Jew in real life as well as playing one on BBT. We're gonna see a lot of this. Some Jews are pro Zionist Israel and anti Muslim no matter what. Others know instinctively what it's like to be the hated minority, how evil neofascists like Bannon and Trump are, and what happens when refugees are denied.
Jewish groups add their voices to protest immigration ban
Lady Liberty’s flame extinguished on New Yorker cover
The New Yorker’s upcoming issue will feature a troubling illustration of Lady Liberty’s light snuffed out.
According to the magazine, under a different political climate, the cover of the issue for Feb. 13 and 20 — which marks the magazine’s 92nd anniversary — would have featured a variation on the iconic image of dandy Eustace Tilley, created by graphic artist Rea Irvin.
Instead, the New Yorker decided to comment on the incipient stages of the Trump administration. Just last week, the White House announced that citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — will not be allowed into the U.S. for at least 90 days. No refugees will be allowed to enter the country for at least 120 days.
Artist John W. Tomac created the new image, which was revealed Friday morning, as a comment on President Trump’s highly controversial executive order on immigration.
“It used to be that the Statue of Liberty, and her shining torch, was the vision that welcomed new immigrants. And, at the same time, it was the symbol of American values,” Tomac told the magazine. “Now it seems that we are turning off the light.” ...
Vrede too wrote:... Of course, this is patently unconstitutional. While banning people based on national origin is sketchy, admitting people based on religion clearly violates the Establishment Clause. Otoh, courts give POTUSes wide latitude when it's about "national security". We'll see. So far, 3 4 separate injunctions against the EO have been granted by 3 separate judges.
Applies nationwide. That's a big deal. "National security" laws have to be pretty sketchy for a judge to halt them. Judge James Robart is a Shrub appointee. Hero.Federal Judge Stays Trump Travel Order, But Many Visas Already Revoked
A federal judge in Seattle has issued a nationwide temporary stay against President Trump's executive order that prevented citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Judge James Robart acted to stop implementation of the order while a case brought by the states of Washington and Minnesota is heard....
New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Minnesota and Washington state all have sued the federal government regarding the order. Eric Schneiderman, the New York state attorney general, described the order signed a week ago as "unconstitutional, unlawful, and fundamentally un-American," reported The Guardian.
Lawsuits for damages and restoration of access coming, lots of them.rstrong wrote:Among those caught in the crossfire of last weekend's Muslim ban were lawful immigrants and permanent residents who were in the air when the rules changed. When these people landed, they were told that since they had arrived at the US in violation of the rules, they were being deported, and were banned from entering the USA for the next five years.
