When Donald Trump was elected president many of his detractors naïvely thought, What can one man do?
Turns out, a lot.
Though they did not necessarily agree with his outright intention to ban Muslims, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices ruled Tuesday morning that the president is within his right to determine who may or may not enter our country for the sake of national security.
Within a week of assuming power, Mr. Trump issued such an order, banning citizens of five predominantly Muslim countries from setting foot on U.S. soil.
THE UNITED STATES
is pulling a curtain down around itself as it isolates its borders, withdraws from trade agreements and peace plans and rebuffs widely held tenets such as global warming.
Such actions strain our relations with the rest of the world, yes, but even worse, they pose a real danger to our psyches as to what it means to be an American.
To outright ban people because of their faith goes against the U.S. Constitution.
And while that wasnt the issue before the justices per se, its unfortunate that it didnt factor more into their decision.
Up until now, ones religion could not be used as a determination of suspicion of wrongdoing. The five Justices who supported the presidents travel ban would likely contend that this is an unfortunate outcome of their decision.
A policy of discrimination makes us a lesser people. To single out mostly Muslim countries would also seem to make us even more of a target of religious fanatics, proving that we, not they, are the ones guilty of religious intolerance.
And they would be right.
The burden of proof that this is not who we are is all the more incumbent on each and every one of us in our encounters with strangers and newcomers. We are not anti-Muslim. We are a nation of all faiths. Welcome.
Susan Lynn
