Robert wrote:Most Muslims support Sharia Law. This brings honor killings, female genital mutilation, beheading, killing gays, woman's rights restrictions and cutting hands off. This is the culture and society most of the immigrants who come to other countries have been taught is right.
Is that true? How can I find out? I certainly don't want to see the things you mention on that list in the United States, and I know that the Muslims I know well enough to discuss these things don't either. I'm pretty sure that most Muslim refugees do not, because they are asked these questions repeatedly as part of the vetting process, checked for links to extremists and terrorists, etc. This is often precisely what they are fleeing.
But do most Muslims? Do most Muslims in the United States? I would probably start by looking at polls and surveys done by groups generally considered reliable. Pew has done a couple:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/20 ... -the-world
a Pew Research Center survey of Muslims in 39 countries asked Muslims whether they want sharia law, a legal code based on the Quran and other Islamic scripture, to be the official law of the land in their country. Responses on this question vary widely. Nearly all Muslims in Afghanistan (99%) and most in Iraq (91%) and Pakistan (84%) support sharia law as official law. But in some other countries, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia – including Turkey (12%), Kazakhstan (10%) and Azerbaijan (8%) – relatively few favor the implementation of sharia law.
They don't give a percent for the United States. I'm guessing the number would be very low - lower than in Turkey - but that's just a guess. I haven't seen reliable numbers - and yes, I've seen the one Trump cites, which is
deeply flawed as a poll. Don't trust political activist groups to do accurate polls about people they are campaigning against. If you look at their methodology, it's pretty messed up. After all, if you start trusting this kind of silly poll, you start to believe things like this:
57% Of Republicans Say Dismantle Constitution And Make Christianity National Religion. So let's all calm down and insist on reliable statistics from less politically active groups using methodologies people of various opinions can agree on ...
Also - asking "do you believe Shariah should be the law of the United States" is a very different question from "do you believe in Sharia?" It's a lot like Judaism - "do you believe Jewish law should be the law of the United States" is a very different question from "do you believe in Jewish law?" Praying 5 times a day is part of Sharia. Pew has a really good study on
beliefs about Sharia that asks the kind of question that take these differences into account.
Robert wrote:Muslims think this is wrong. They want a Theonomy with Sharia Law as the guide.
I am not saying everything western culture does it right, but there is a core respect for life that does drive it. It is founded on Judeo-Christian ethics which is often contrary to Sharia Law.
The Old Testament is often at odds with American law too. When we talk about Judeo-Christian ethics, we don't usually mean things like this:
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 wrote:If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.
Leviticus 25:44-46 wrote:You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way.
If you ask me if I believe in God's law, I most certainly do. If you ask me if I think those verses should be added to American law, I most certainly do not.
I definitely agree that we need to screen for terrorists and extremists - and I think we already do. Successfully, so far - nobody from these 7 countries has ever committed a terrorist act, none of the 3,000,000 refugees admitted since 1980 has ever committed a terrorist act.
Is it biblical? Is it Christlike? Is it loving? Is it true? How can I find out?