US Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) the first Muslim U.S. Representative said President Donald Trump’s 90-day ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries is “a religiously based ban.” He was being interviewed on the TV show Face the Nation. “If they can ban Muslims, why can’t they ban Mormons, why can’t they ban Seventh-day Adventists, why can’t [they] move into ethnic groups?”
Here is the key part of the conversation as it happened:
“It is a religiously based ban, which is something that our — our Constitution says Congress shall make no law establishing a religion or abridge the free exercise thereof. This is a violation of equal protection. It’s a religiously based ban,” Ellison said.
Host John Dickerson compared Trump’s travel ban to what former President Jimmy Carter did after the Iranian hostage crisis and when former President Barack Obama paused the processing of Iraqi refugees.
“Congressman, the president’s defenders would say that, after the Iranian hostage crisis, Jimmy Carter asked Iranian students to report to immigration offices,” said host John Dickerson. “During the Obama administration, the State Department paused Iraqi refugee processing because of terrorism concerns, so that what Donald Trump is doing here, it may be bigger, but it’s in keeping with what previous presidents have done.”
“You know what? We have never had a religious-based ban before, and they can’t deny that this is a Muslim ban,” responded Ellison. “It is a Muslim ban. On the campaign trail, he said he wanted a Muslim ban. He said on national television that there would be other religious groups that would receive priority. This is a Muslim ban,” Ellison insisted.
“Rudy Giuliani, who helped him write it, said that they started out with the intention of a Muslim ban, and then they sort of languaged it up so to try to avoid that label, but it is a religiously based ban…” he added.
“If they can ban Muslims, why can’t they ban Mormons, why can’t they ban Seventh-day Adventists, why can’t [they] move into ethnic groups?” Ellison said.
“Congressman, but, in this case, they have named countries which were named on lists already by the Obama administration,” said Dickerson. “And if it were a Muslim ban, why wouldn’t they ban Pakistan and Indonesia and Turkey and Egypt? None of those countries are affected.”
“Well, according to Reince Priebus, they’re working on it, right? That’s what I heard him just tell you, that they might just add more, but the fact is, is that terrorism, a horrible scourge on the planet, comes from all kinds of places, some where the majority of the population is Muslim, some not, and it even comes from within our country, and the fact is that we cannot make a religious-based distinction,” Ellison said.
“We have to go based on the evidence that we find that people are actually engaged in…” Ellison added.
Could Mr. Trump’s temporary immigration ban on citizens of certain countries in which Muslim extremists are active in terrorism be used one day as a precedence to restrict the movements of other religious groups like Seventh-day Adventists and Mormons? That’s how all undermining of the constitution starts, whether surveillance, torture in secret prisons, extra-judicial killings, etc. – in the name of fighting religious extremism in the form of terrorism. Eventually, the target will morph to those originally unintended and even unrelated to the original purpose. The immigration ban may well be the start of preparations for the following statement to be fulfilled.
“We have no time to lose. The end is near. The passage from place to place to spread the truth will soon be hedged with dangers on the right hand and on the left. Everything will be placed to obstruct the way of the Lord’s messengers, so that they will not be able to do that which it is possible for them to do now.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, page 22.
Comments
Rone7
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 10:36 AMThis is the first time I disagree with you. To say this is a just a Muslim ban is to disregard the fact that Muslims can still come from other counties!
admin
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 10:45 AMRead the disclaimer at the bottom of the article. We are quoting the senator. This is not our opinion. Think a little more deeply Rone7. We’re connecting current events to the prophecies. We are not stating our opinion of the opinions of the person or article quoted
janet lundeen neuumann
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 12:04 PMThe congressman said, “You know what? We have never had a religious-based ban before, and they can’t deny that this is a Muslim ban,”
but never before have we had a small segment of a religion declare their intent and follow through by killing American citizens. Americans have a right to self-defense.
Of course, we know in time they will come after the SDA’s just because of our beliefs.
Charles Reese
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 12:24 PMWhen are you liberal people going to wake up? How many times have the Mormons been in the news lately for terrorist activities? I haven’t heard anything about the Seventh day Adventist being terrorist accept from Pope Francis and I know the Baptist haven’t committed any mass murders, at least it has not been reported on the news.
Does anyone else see the elephant in the room or is it just me?
admin
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 12:36 PMSenator Ellison is a Muslim, not a liberal. He is defending Muslims, rightly or wrongly. But you are correct that the Mormons, SDAs or Baptists do not fit the traditional definition of terrorism. So, though it is an illogical comparison, it raises the specter of minority religious groups being targeted for travel bans when they are sufficiently demonized. Hence our SOP quote. Admin
Sam Tee
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 12:29 PMThe Executive Order does not refer to Muslims at any time. Democrats and the media all speak and act as though it did. This is a lie. And it’s wrong. Is it good to re-publish a fear-mongering article based on the lie? There are countries which, for whatever reason, foster, support, facilitate terrorism. It is sensible to vet persons from these countries! Especially when 85% of refugees are men, ages 20-40 years, as seen in Europe. Who is really behind all of this? That’s the real question.
admin
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 12:37 PMOur concern is not with Trump’s ban. Our concern is with the senator’s remark. He raises the specter of banning travel for other religious minorities. Hence our prophetic link. Read our disclaimer below the briefing if you care to, and you’ll see that our mission is not to just report on news we like or with which we agree. Our mission is to point out the link between the news and prophecy.
Sam Tee
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 02:35 PMI appreciate KTF Ministry. You do MUCH good for people and for believers. But I still wonder how there can be a ‘prophetic link’ to a false report? I know religious groups will be persecuted, but the ban is not against Muslims. Did you know this? SDAs do not comprise a country. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” Is the ban being applied “for righteousness’ sake”? or because of evil in the affected countries? Should not Christians applaud suppression of evil?
admin
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 06:54 PMWe understand all about the ban. We never bought the Senator’s line that it was all about Muslims. And we still don’t. That’s not our issue. Get off of that issue. Look at the real issue that is the elephant in the room. The enemy uses un-parallel maneuvers to establish precedents (weak though they may be), and then reins up the people and moves in on those he’s really after. This is just setting the stage (table dressing if you will). God’s people will be persecuted on false accusations and false reports. Haven’t you read the counsel of the Lord concerning this? So, there are parallels even so. But the bottom line is that in this case the prophetic link had to do with travel from place to place. It is now easy to see how travel restrictions can be imposed for religious reasons. This was the link we are reporting on. The reason may change, but the principle remains. I don’t know if the interviewer is a Christian or not. Certainly the senator is not. Our report had nothing to do with whether the Senator was accurate or not. Our report was not against the suppression of evil. You may have let your emotions get in the way of a rational understanding of what we were doing. Are you not aware that God’s people will be treated the same way – demonized even though they have done no wrong. The false allegations will be egregious. It was the senator that said that it was a muslim ban, not us. Did you not carefully read the article? We said nothing about whether we agree with him or not. From a prophetic point of view we don’t really care whether he is right or wrong about the ban. We care about what he said about other religious minorities. That’s what concerned us. And what he said was real. It was not a false report. His take on the ban may well have been a false report, but we were not interested in that issue.
Our mission is not about applauding the good that leaders do, or condemning the bad that they do. Our ministry is about linking current events to prophecy. You can read the news for yourself. You don’t need us to tell you what is right and what is wrong in the news or whether it is fake or real. We don’t even try to do that. Our mission is solely to link current events to prophecy. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. If you cannot see the link, that’s fine. Move on. But don’t make us out to do something we didn’t do. That too is “fake news.”
Alfred Lim
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 04:21 PMWhen did Mormons SDA etc become a threat to US national security ?
Andrew Large
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 06:24 PMThe senator is incorrect in saying that the ban is a religious one. It is not based on points of doctrine or a group peacefully worshipping who they wish too as a free choice which is what the constitution states if I understand it correctly ( I’m a kiwi not an American). It is interesting that he is making comparisons in order to sell his views but I don’t feel they are valid. Why is he bringing up Mormons and SDAs in the same sentence? Are those old familiar wires being crossed again? Yes fair points admin. The deal is to join the dots as accurately as we can without becoming involved in the politics. This can be difficult.
admin
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 06:50 PMHow true. It is easy to miss the prophetic point if we are caught up in politics. Far to many of God’s people are caught up in the political things that they cannot see the spiritual things.
Jay Huffman
Wednesday February 8th, 2017 at 11:32 PMWe as a nation, are for freedom of religion, until that religion violates the civil and religious rights of others. The proverbial, “Your right to swing your fist, ends, where my nose begins.” We should not ban all Muslims, for all Muslims do not “misuse” their religion in such a manner. We should hold people accountable as individuals, and not lump all of one religion together. Your point is a good one. We must protect the rights and privileges of all, but at the same time, ensure that all are practicing their religion responsibly, and with others in mind, for isn’t this the essence of religion, to make me a better and more loving person, citizen, husband, wife, neighbor, and reflection of the character of the God that I worship freely? And have we not been endowed with that right by our Creator, and should we not also do all in our power to preserve that right and privilege for everyone on this planet?
karen
Thursday February 9th, 2017 at 12:22 PMI can only say that I believe in bible truths, this is the time we are to open our eyes, for some it may seem not to worry or even doubt. Children of God the time is near, so it will be swiftting out what religion you belong to, because a muslim can change his name, Let us not believe that all muslims are bad.
Ron
Thursday February 9th, 2017 at 07:09 PMI think the article is correct in that as we try to protect ourselves from a group of people that make up the largest amount of terrorists in the world, (find a terrorist and you can bet that in 90% of the cases it will be a Muslim) we will find ourselves making laws that restrict liberty precisely because muslims have chosen to propegate their theology through jihad and terrorism. Bad religion forced on people always results in bad laws, history has shown.
If the muslims would band together and root out terrorism, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, but since the majority of muslims are silent on this issue, we can only assume that they agree with the jihadists and with the promotion of sharia law on a not so aware public.
admin
Thursday February 9th, 2017 at 08:02 PMAnd that is a prophetic point: “And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” Genesis 16:12
Jim
Thursday February 9th, 2017 at 08:01 PMIf anywhere from 35-55% of SDA’s from a certain region of the world believed terrorism and suicide bombing was justified (according to Pew Research Center and Georgetown polls), and if Obama’s administration had identified those regions as concerns for terrorism, I would not be troubled by really extreme vetting with restrictions for 3 months from those countries. I also would be VERY loudly repudiating the co-opting of my denomination’s name by violent thugs. Mr. Ellison unfortunately never adopts that approach. If I felt EGW’s writings were being misinterpreted to support that activity, I would be directing all of my rhetorical energies to correcting the record. I think it fair to say Mr Ellison and CAIR are missing a huge opportunity to create the good will for and increase the comfort with our Muslim brothers and sisters that could exist if they were spending the majority of their energies decrying the violence and outing agitators.
M J
Friday February 10th, 2017 at 08:16 PMWow, the current White House Administration has support for this Ban!!!
Evidently only Terrorist can come from the Middle East and certain countries at that! Interesting to say the least.
These same supporters of this Ban fail to recognize that the KKK TERRORIZED and even killed many Americans but have NEVER been called Terrorist! I guess you have to be from the Middle East to terrorize someone.
If we were really worried about “death” we would Ban Alcohol, Smoking, and most Prescription Drugs. They signally kill more people than all acts of terror combined.
When will Christians do things the “Christ like way”? Perhaps that is out of the question.
Rone7
Saturday February 11th, 2017 at 11:54 AMYou say “If They Can Ban Muslims, Why Can’t They Ban Mormons… SDAs?” You are taking the liberal media side of this and saying it is a Muslim ban. It is not a Muslim ban, it is a ban of a few countries that are bad news. At least 90% of Muslims could still come in! Do you have any stories of SDA’s or Mormons being terrorists?
admin
Sunday February 12th, 2017 at 05:19 AMNo, We’re not taking any side. I personally think Trump is trying to be practical and address a security issue based on genuine concerns. But it is a double edged sword. The prophecy involved is saying that travel will become difficult as expressed in the quote that links the comments to prophecy. Our mission is to link current events to prophecy (future events). If you still don’t get it, I’m sorry. But from now on, this debate is off line. It goes no further on this site.
S. N.
Friday February 9th, 2018 at 12:54 PMThank you KTF for informing us Christians of prophetic events taking place in our day. I believe God has raised you up for this purpose.