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Religious Test: Donald Trump Proposes Banning Muslims From Entering USA

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Mon, 07 Dec 2015 23:27:13 Z)

Donald Trump's solution to prevent Islamic terror attacks against Americans is "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," according to a statement released by the GOP presidential frontrunner.

Trump's statement, titled "ON PREVENTING MUSLIM IMMIGRATION," cites as justification for the unprecedented religious test for immigrants and visitors a survey that says "there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population."

The poll showed that "25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad' and 51% of those polled, 'agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah,'" according to Trump.

"Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won't convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women," Trump said.

Trump said that even without the poll, "it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension."

The ban on Muslims in the United States would only be temporary, he suggested. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."

Trump did not include details on how immigration and border control officials would determine who is a Muslim and who is not. He also did not suggest what, if anything, would be done about the 12 million Muslims who are already in the United States.

Trump's proposal comes days after an Illinois-born Muslim and his Pakistani wife, who the FBI said was radicalized for years, killed 14 people in a terror attack in San Bernardino, California.

Rival Jeb Bush soon tweeted that Trump was "unhinged."

GOP candidate Lindsey Graham called on all other Republicans to condemn Trump's " bombastic rhetoric."

About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

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