America is a melting pot, especially when compared to other nations around the world, including Europe. My own father and all four of my grandparents were immigrants. Their descendants include physicians, teachers, police officers, and military heroes.
On the other hand, at certain eras in the history of our nation we have had discriminatory policies that have been applied to keep out “undesirables” as defined by the times. These groups have included ethnicities such as Greeks, Asians and Jews, who are now well accepted and doing above average financially.
The current undesirable group, clearly being exploited for political gain, is the Muslims. But, what are the facts? How much of this attitude is driven by ethnic and/or religious discrimination and how much is based on a reasonable and rational interpretation of the situation?
Well, to begin with, every case is different. To be true to our ideals, America should not say that we refuse to accept all people of a certain race or religion, as has been advocated by some national politicians. For example, Muslim interpreters allied with our troops have been targeted by Isis. Should we keep them out? Obviously, we should not.
However, we do want immigrants who accept our values and way of life. Along these lines, it is essential to know what people in various Muslim nations believe regarding Sharia law.
Sharia law, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is the Islamic term for a code of justice based on the Koran. It is promoted by the Saudis, supposedly our allies, who have historically financed anti-Western fundamentalist schools throughout the Islamic world. When we hear of people being lashed or limbs cut off in Arab countries, that happens as a result of Sharia law.
So, how widespread is the acceptance of Sharia law in the Muslim world? In 2013 Pew Research, one of the most respected bipartisan polling groups, surveyed numerous Islamic nations on this topic. The results are eye-opening, especially for people like me who consider themselves to be enlightened regarding social issues and foreign policy.
Support for Sharia law varies widely by region. In some areas, such as Europe, there is little enthusiasm for it. However, in many other geographic areas (including South/Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and much of Africa) support for Sharia law is astonishingly high.
For example, 91 percent of the population of Iraq is in favor of Sharia law, as is 89 percent of the Palestinian population. Even in our allies Egypt and Jordan, the numbers are over 70 percent.
Obviously, these findings should have had a major impact on how our foreign policy is conducted. But apparently, they have not.
Do we really believe that western style democracies can be established in these countries? Or that invading them and putting up a “Mission Accomplished” banner will change their culture? It is little wonder that the so-called Arab Spring has rapidly become the Arab Winter?
Bringing this discussion back to immigration, what are the implications for the U.S.A.? First, there is obviously a danger in saying that we will bring in a set number of immigrants from Syria, a severely damaged nation. President Obama wants to be empathetic and bring in 10,000 people, but we should only admit people who have values compatible with ours. Screening these individuals will be extremely difficult and no quantitative goal should be set.
Second, the more of these refugees taken in at any one time, the less the ability of our nation to absorb them into the melting pot, especially if their values are in fact significantly different than ours.
In Europe, for example, the influx of Muslims has meant a drastic increase in terrorist attacks against Jews. In France, over 9,000 French Jews are leaving their homeland each year for safer nations. That is not something that we want repeated here.
Third, if any of these individuals do turn out to be terrorist plants, the “build a wall” chorus will be strengthened, causing other problems. The potential backlash is enormous for immigration in general.
In short, the United States is currently taking in a large number of immigrants each year, both legal and illegal. In 2014 alone, there were 1.3 legal immigrants, far more than just about any other nation.
It can be argued that this influx has historically helped our aging nation in a number of ways. For example, bringing in skilled labor such as doctors and nurses as well as people who are filling jobs in fields Americans do not want, such as seasonal agriculture.
However, when we are dealing with Muslim nations in certain geographic areas, we need to be careful to insure that we do not automatically assume that these immigrants can be easily absorbed, given their support of Sharia law. We must not let our heart overwhelm our common sense.
Jack Bernard
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Jack Bernard is a retired senior executive. He is also the former chair of the Jasper County (Ga.) Commission and Republican Party.]
