Texas Voters Say Muslims Who Aren’t Citizens Shouldn’t Be Allowed in the U.S.

It's a sad day in Texas. A majority of registered Texas voters support the idea that Muslims who are not citizens should be banned from coming to the U.S.

In a new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, 31 percent of Texas registered voters surveyed strongly supported the idea of keeping Muslims out, and 22 percent somewhat support the idea.

Texans, no doubt afraid of terrorism, are willing to turn Muslims away at the border. One little problem. What about those Muslims, who are good citizens, who would like for their relatives to visit? What about those Muslims who come here to fill jobs in medicine, education and other fields? More importantly, where do we stop?

This statewide xenophobia is really sad. We are really sacrificing the soul of what it means to be America when we profile a certain religious group. I understand, I really do, but it goes back to the question "where do we stop?"

Do we then ban South Americans because they might have the zika virus? Do we then ban Chinese because some eat dog meat? Do we ban Germans because some had ancestors who were Nazis?  You could literally go on forever.

There is 100 percent a problem with radical Islam, but not all Muslims are radical. I could make the same argument against radical Christians or any number of radical anti-government groups that live here. I think the real answer isn't to ban a people, but to look closer at ALL people who want to visit the U.S.

And let's not forget that one of the core principles of the U.S. and something protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution is freedom of religion.

Lastly, when I was a kid, all I knew about Texas was John Wayne. I sometimes ask myself "what would John Wayne do?" in one of those old westerns. It seems to me that his answer would be "you can come in, but I'm keeping an eye on you." That's the sensible, smart, Texan thing to do.

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