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Trump Receives Criticism From All Quarters for Proposal to Ban Muslims

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Dec 09, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comments about banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. have received harsh and abundant criticism.

CNN.com reports that, on Monday, Trump’s campaign issued a press release that stated, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.”

Since entering the presidential race, Trump has become known for his often inflammatory rhetoric, but the controversy and condemnation caused by his recent statement is perhaps unparalleled.

Condemnation of Trump’s comments, which come in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting, carried out by alleged ISIS sympathizers, have come from all sectors.

Not surprisingly, the Democratic party has used Trump’s comments to level criticism against him and the GOP, but Trump’s fellow Republicans have also harshly criticized his statement.

Senator Ted Cruz stated, “That is not my policy.”

John Kasich said, "This is just more of the outrageous divisiveness that characterizes his every breath and another reason why he is entirely unsuited to lead the United States."

"(Trump's) habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together. The next president better be somebody who can unite our country to face the great challenges of the 21st Century," added Marco Rubio.

Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and Lindsey Graham were among others who disagreed with Trump’s proposal and condemned it as being against American values.

Trump did clarify that his proposal would only include Muslims who are attempting to enter the U.S. and would only be in effect “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

“I have Muslim friends, Greta, and they're wonderful people. But there's a tremendous section and cross-section of Muslims living in our country who have tremendous animosity," he told Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. "It does not apply to people living in the country, except we have to be vigilant."

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission also condemned Trump’s comments.

Charisma News reports that Moore said allowing the U.S. to discriminate against Muslims could lead to discriminating against Christians in the future.

“As an evangelical Christian, I could not disagree more strongly with Islam. I believe that salvation comes only through union with Jesus Christ, received through faith. As part of the church's mission, we believe we should seek to persuade our Muslim neighbors of the goodness and truth of the gospel. It is not in spite of our gospel conviction, but precisely because of it, that we should stand for religious liberty for everyone,” said Moore.

CNN reports that, despite the controversy, Trump is unlikely to falter in the polls because no controversy seems to deter his supporters, many of whom are standing by his comments.

Photo courtesy: flickr.com

Publication date: December 9, 2015