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Emma Lazarus, a Jewish American poet, penned the words that are displayed at the base of the Statue of Liberty:
“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-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
America has indeed lifted our lamp to the golden door of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
While most Americans still believe this land is a golden door, they also have come to realize that some have come, not "yearning to breathe free," but obsessed with killing us.
A new survey finds almost 6 in 10 Americans support the banning of Islamic sharia ideology in America.
6 in 10.
The poll was conducted by SavvyOpinion using questions that pushed past the media's normal refusal to distinguish between Muslim people and Islamic ideology, by focusing its questions on American's attitudes towards the sharia ideology of Islam.
Breitbart News says this is good news for candidate Donald Trump who is urging a comprehensive reform of border and anti-jihad strategies to exclude many supporters of Islam's sharia ideology from entering the United States.
But what does it mean to our America as we have known it?
First, the poll asked whether tourists and immigrants should be screened to check for their possible support of Islamic sharia---they found 70% approved of screening.
The poll then asked the 70%; "Do you believe that individuals who support the practice of [Islamic] sharia law should be admitted into the United States?"
Four-fifths of the 70% said "no." That translates into 56% of total respondents backing the idea of excluding sharia-supporting Muslims from the country.
The pollsters continued to drill down, asking the Americans whether they wanted visitors to accept the subordination of their foreign culture to American culture while they are in our nation.
The question: "Do you believe that the United States government should require all foreign individuals entering the United States to affirm that they will uphold the principles of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion and speech, above all personal ideologies for the duration of their stay?"
"Yes," was the response of 78% of Americans---almost 8 in 10 believe this should be the policy.
Ironically, this is the teaching from the Old Testament regarding foreign visitors, immigrants, and sojourners.
The Bible teaches this concept because it is the only policy that protects the sovereignty of a nation, which God also affirms in Scripture.
The question was asked, "What in your opinion of a suggested policy that US citizens who pledge their allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, or any other terrorist organization should no longer be considered citizens of the United States?"
Pretty strong question.
A little more than 66% said they strongly support a love-it-or-leave-it policy, while only 4% strongly supported letting ISIS supporters keep their citizenship.
I wondered if this poll was truly representative.
It seems it is. It has a proper proportion of men and women, a good distribution of people from each corner of the country, and a political skew that matches other polls---25% Republican, 34% Democrat, 41% Independent or Other.
While secular Left progressives will discount this survey simply because it stands in the way of their agenda to remake America---as good and decent Americans often do---it seems to affirm the narrative regarding the security of our nation.
The larger question we all must ask ourselves is whether we as a nation should attempt to ban any beliefs.
However, the idea of banning beliefs is not new. The popular support for the exclusion of radical Islamic ideology matches prior public support for excluding other foreign ideologies.
For example, question 10 on the current N-400 immigration document asks would-be immigrants a decades-old question, "Have you ever been a member of, or in any way associated (either directly or indirectly) with: A. The Communist Party? B. Any totalitarian party? C. A terrorist organization?"
Steven Miller told the Wall Street Journal last week the "best way to prevent continued radicalization from developing inside America is to suspend temporarily immigration from regions that have been a major source for terrorists and their supporters coming to the US."
Emma Lazarus' poem, in its entirety reads:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "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!"
As "The Fiddler On The Roof" tells the story of a family--a community, trying to find its balance in a changing world, we too in America, are seeking to find our balance, between extinguishing the lamp beside the golden door, and welcoming a Trojan Horse.
Where is that balance?
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
Believe. Be Faithful. Be Informed. Be Blessed.