Date: October 3, 2016
Host: Jim Schneider
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As of September 30th when our nation’s fiscal year ended, the current administration in Washington had admitted 12,587 Syrian refugees. This exceeds the target that President Obama had declared last Fall by 20.5%. Of that 12,587, the vast majority (98.2%) were Sunni Muslims. 68 of them (or .5%) come under the category of ‘Christian’ (which does not mean born-again Christian).
Administration officials say that its refugee program will not prioritize any particular religious group when considering applications. Are they telling the truth when 98.2% are Sunni Muslims? While it’s true that the president has not declared a target figure for Syrian refugee admissions for 2017, a recent report to Congress said that the administration seeks to admit a significantly higher number of Syrian refugees in the new fiscal year than the 10,000 target initially set for fiscal year 2016.
Another situation that calls into question the government’s sincerity regarding prioritization involves the Muslim community center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They’ve won a 1.7 million dollar settlement from Pittsfield Township. The township denied the mosque a permit to build an Islamic school on 77 acres. This township has been sued by the Obama administration’s Justice Department along with the Council on American/Islamic Relations (CAIR). They’ve agreed to settle out of court for 1.7 million dollars and allow the project to go forward. It will be one of the largest cash payouts ever by a U.S. municipality to a mosque. In addition, the township has agreed to have its elected officials and staff undergo sensitivity training on how not to discriminate against Muslims and other religious minorities.
Jim reported on a New York Times story that deals with a Muslim cleric with suspected ties to the Obama bin Laden organization. He was banned from preaching at a Texas mosque…’because he was considered by some congregants as having an overly rigid interpretation of Muslim theology.’ He has found a home in Michigan and is set to expand his influence after the settlement of this week, a deal he won with full backing of our nation’s Justice Department.
The Pittsfield case applicant is the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor and Vicinity. This association is led by an immigrant from Syria who’s been under F.B.I. investigation in the past for suspected radical ties.
Then there’s the major media that seems to have its own unique set of priorities when it comes to reporting. Jim noted that this past June they gave six times more reporting coverage to the death of a gorilla than to Muslim slaughter of others for their faith. In June alone there was persecution by Muslims in Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Nigeria. Two examples that Jim reported on include:
–On June 2nd a Muslim mob in Nigeria murdered and beheaded the wife of a Christian pastor based upon a false accusation of blasphemy.
–In Uganda, a Muslim man burned his 9 year old son for accepting Christ.
What we’re seeing is that this violence isn’t random; it’s systematic, taking place in areas of various languages, ethnicities and locations.
What you’ve read here is just part of the coverage from the first quarter hour of programming. Jim presents much more that deals with Islam’s impact in America as well as input from callers on this vital Crosstalk broadcast.
