GOP congressman’s bigotry beats reason

Many Americans probably agree with the knee-jerk emotion in Republican Congressman Andrew Ogles’ social media post that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.”

That’s emotion, but the bigoted remark falls apart under intellectual scrutiny.

A hard-right member of the Freedom Caucus, Ogles was immediately attacked by Democrats, Fox News reported, as he should have been, and not only by Democrats.

His remark followed an attack in New York City by Muslims who vowed allegiance to ISIS, police sources said. 

What Ogles has done is blame an entire group for the misdeeds of a few. That is called guilt by association and that’s not how U.S. law works.

But it has been used against groups of “others” in the past.

In 1882, as an example, Chinese laborers were banned from entering the United States for 10 years. 

And this was after their countrymen had busted their humps helping build the Transcontinental Railroad.

Using Ogles’ emotions — certainly not his facts — would have banned all Italians because some were Mafioso, or all Irish because of the Irish Republican Army, and their Catholic religion before that. In the 19th century there were anti-Catholic riots right here in the City of Brotherly Love.

Jews weren’t “right” for America some believed, and that extended to Slavs, Greeks and others.

If Ogles wants to protect Americans from the most dangerous criminal class, he would shun white  males.

They represent the majority of mass killers in the U.S. And the majority of them are Christian.

Let me rush to add that I disagree with the Left, and President Joe Biden, when they isolate white males as the most dangerous subgroup in America, and thus are suspect.

That is also guilt by association. I dispute the notion of group guilt.

Let’s talk about causation versus correlation. 

Correlation is when two things happen at the same time, but are unrelated. Example: Ice cream eating and shark attacks both spike during the summer. They are unrelated.

Causation is a cause and effect relationship. If being white and male caused crime, we’d have a hell of a lot more of it.

Rather than race, poverty is a prime driver of crime. Other key causes include lack of educational and job opportunities, disintegration of the family unit, and addiction.

Not race, not religion.

I have several Muslim friends, two of whom are prominent.

Zuhdi Jasser is a medical doctor, a Muslim who served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, who is strongly anti-Islamist, pro-America, pro-Israel, and a Republican, like Ogles. He is a founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

The other is author and activist Irshad Manji, author of “The Trouble with Islam,” which I highly recommend. Although not an American, she has worked and taught in the U.S. and ferociously  pushes democratic ideals.

These are Muslims who find their faith and democracy are not contradictory. They belong in American society.

And far more American Muslims are like them than the two jihadist wannabes whose holy war fizzled on a New York sidewalk.