By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) America has always been the land of the immigrant. We all know the famous poem by Emma Lazarus: "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, /I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
But does this not assume that those who come to America wish to leave the old hatreds behind and build a new life? Can we afford to be as welcoming to immigrants who:
* Have announced their intention to NOT assimilate
* Have values entirely incompatible with ours, such as
* Rejecting the idea of the separation between church and state * Rejecting the idea of personal liberty * Rejecting the value of the individual
* Have announced their determination to make their religion and culture the dominant one in our country, and
* Have shown the willingness to kill those who disagree with them.
The immigrants we are talking about are the Islamists. Even now they are positioning themselves as a “persecuted minority” and demanding “special accommodations” for Islamic communities.
If the politically correct tolerance of everything buys into this, we will have islands of Islamic Republics popping out as bleeding sores all over the United States. And bleed they would, as Shari’a Law is imposed on the hapless American citizens caught in such areas. Dhimmitude (inferior status for non-Muslims), the zigat, (tax on non-Muslims) burning of Christian churches, and physical intimidation would follow as night follows day.
The politically correct secularists hold that “American society is no better than any other”, not appreciating our precious gift of liberty and freedom. Their point of view can find no reason to defend our society. In fact, the politically correct mentality can hardly justify its own survival! They meet the demand of Islam to “convert or die” with puzzlement, asking “why can’t we all just get along?”
The answer is to not allow further Islamic immigrants, and to begin deporting the ones who manifest violent intolerance and other non-Western values. Of course the politically correct secularists and CAIR will howl “racism”, “Islamophobia,” and “bigotry.”
But bigotry is disliking a group for no good reason, (like the color of the skin). However, we have very GOOD reasons for being wary of Islamists, especially when they make no bones about chanting “Death to America” in their mosques, and publicly announcing that Islam will someday rule America.