The War Against Christians, 2020 Update, Citizenship & The Court

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: The War Against Christian
As the official death toll rises to 321, ISIS is now taking credit for the suicide bombings against Christians in Sri Lanka. The Islamic State says that the bombings were in retaliation for the Christchurch mosque attack. Nonsense. The attacker of the New Zealand mosque was not a Christian.

As I noted in yesterday's report, Western elites bent over backwards to align themselves with New Zealand's Muslim community after the Christchurch shootings. In response to the Sri Lanka bombings, Western elites seemingly denied that Christians were the victims.

The effort to make the Christian victims invisible continued on last night's evening news. Of the three major news networks, one did not mention that Christians were the targets and the other two mentioned Christians only once.

The Washington Post writes today about the anxiety of Christians as they bury their dead. But yesterday it wrote an obscene article headlined, "Christianity Under Attack? Sri Lanka Church Bombings Stoke Far-Right Anger In The West."

Was the Post, as the headline implies, denying that Christianity is under attack? And why wouldn't everyone be angered by the mass murder of innocent victims?

In an effort to make conservatives look like fools and liars, the article states that "the vast majority of terrorism victims globally are Muslims." The Post reporters leave the impression that because Muslims are the greatest victims of terrorism, concern about Christian persecution is misplaced.

But what the Post didn't say is that Muslims are also the greatest perpetrators of terrorism -- Shia attacking Sunnis, and Sunnis attacking Shia, ISIS attacking Christians.

This Post report is so bad I expect it will win a Pulitzer!

By the way, on Easter Sunday another French church was set on fire.

What To Do
Sadly, we know now that Sri Lankan authorities were warned weeks ago about potential terrorist attacks. We also know that ISIS has been active in South Asia. In January, more than 20 people were killed when a Catholic cathedral was bombed in the Philippines.

More than 40 Sri Lankan citizens have fought for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Some are known to have returned. And this begs the question: What should be done with the thousands of foreign ISIS fighters who remain in Iraq and Syria?

Nations all over the world, including the U.S. and Great Britain, are wrestling with this question, even as they struggle to comprehend why so many are attracted to such barbarism in the first place. (In Wisconsin yesterday, Waheba Issa Dais and Yosvany Padilla-Conde pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS.)

This shouldn't be a tough issue. Don't let these traitors back in!

They sided with butchers who beheaded their captives or burned them alive in cages. They voluntarily left because they rejected western values. It is highly unlikely that they will become entrepreneurs or contributing members of society if allowed to return. Good riddance!

2020 Update
Yesterday Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) became the 20th Democrat to announce for the 2020 presidential contest. Former Vice President Joe Biden was expected to announce his candidacy tomorrow, but reports now suggest those plans have been scrapped.

Meanwhile, NPR is asking whether Biden is too moderate for today's Democrat Party, and the latest polls out of Iowa and New Hampshire suggest he could be in trouble.

In Iowa, Biden is tied with Bernie Sanders at 19%, while South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is second at 14%. In New Hampshire, Sanders leads Biden 30% to 18%, with Buttigieg at 15%. No other candidate reached double-digits in either state.

Last night, the Clinton News Network, aka CNN, was working overtime to give the Democrat candidates more exposure by hosting five -- yes, five! -- town hall events featuring Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

The Felon Vote
Bernie Sanders seems to be getting the most buzz out of the CNN event for embracing yet another bizarre idea.

There is a big debate right now about whether felons should have the right to vote. Some conservative reformers think that felons who have served their time and paid their debt to society should have their voting rights restored. I'm skeptical.

But never to be outdone, Sanders staked out another position entirely. Asked whether he supported allowing the Boston Marathon bomber and those convicted of sexual assault to vote while still in prison, Sanders said yes. Only 25% of Americans think this is a good idea, but I guess Sanders knows where his base is.

Citizenship & The Court
The Constitution mandates that the federal government conduct a census every ten years. It is an important undertaking as census data is used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College, as well as federal funding for many programs.

The Trump Administration decided to add a question to the 2020 census asking about the respondent's citizenship status. That is a perfectly reasonable thing to do and had been the norm throughout most of our nation's history. But progressives sued to block the question, and today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case.

The vast majority of Americans (66%) support including the citizenship question on the census forms. Only 23% oppose asking if respondents are citizens.

Democrats and their radical left-wing allies are terrified that the question might dissuade illegal immigrants from responding, which could result in fewer members of Congress in states like California. Once again, we see that for the left illegal immigration is all about political power.

Fortunately, it appears from this morning's arguments that a majority of justices are likely to uphold the Trump Administration's decision to ask about citizenship status.

In related news, the Trump Administration announced that it is cracking down on visa overstays (a major contributor to illegal immigration) and rolling back Clinton-era regulations that allow illegal immigrants to access public housing benefits.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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