RNA - As religious leaders committed to this shared American value, we are deeply concerned about this week’s hearings on the nomination of Jeff Sessions to serve as our next attorney general. His record and rhetoric of apparent Islamophobia should make all senators on the Judiciary Committee who care about religious freedom ask him these hard questions.
How can Senator Sessions defend the religious freedom of all Americans when he has denigrated one religion in particular?
Just days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, President George W. Bush visited a mosque and addresses the American people. He reassuredworried Americans who are Muslim that:
“America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. … And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.”
More recently, President Barack Obama has boldly said: “We are not at war with Islam.”
Members of the incoming Trump administration have departed from this rhetoric, instead heightening tensions with talk of a holy war.
Senators must ask Sessions if he endorses the idea that America is at war with Islam or if he agrees with the words of our past two presidents which uphold our American ideals. Sessions record points towards concern. He called Islam a “toxic ideology” in an interview with the American Thinkerin June.
Does Senator Sessions support a “Muslim ban” or a “Muslim registry?”
As a top surrogate and advisor to the president-elect, Senator Sessions has supported the concept of a “Muslim ban.” Senators on both sides of the aisle have raised questions about not just the constitutionality of such a ban, but whether it undermines our values as a nation.
Religious freedom questions have plagued the president-elect throughout his campaign, including whether he would establish some type of “Muslim registry” for foreigners residing within the United States.
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