That was Trump’s thought crime. He identified Islam instead of playing the politically correct game of simply calling for regional travel restrictions for some countries in the world of Islam. Had he called for certain nation-based restrictions, even broad ones such those issued by Franklin Roosevelt in World War II against Germans, Italians, and Japanese, the thought police would have had to allow it.

Greg Koukl, on the latest Stand to Reason podcast, was asked by a caller about whether the U.S. has a moral and Biblical obligation to accept Syrian refugees. So what do Christian principles teach us about how to deal with this issue?

With more than half the nation’s governors stating clearly that Syrian refugees are not welcome in their state without better security screening, why has South Dakota’s Governor Dennis Daugaard been so reluctant to show a little backbone and stand up for the safety of South Dakotans? There may be an answer.

I see that the state-controlled narrative is changing a bit due to the fact that the “Useful idiots,” who have been playing the stooge for this administration, are now coming to the realization that the game that they seemed to be playing is not a game at all.

The compassionate response is the Christian response. We must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. It is possible to be at once wise and compassionate. The two are not mutually exclusive. Christ modeled for us the perfect solution to this problem with His parable of the Good Samaritan.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed without much consideration a proposal that would require some additional FBI scrutiny for about 10,000 refugees from the war in Syria and Iraq over concerns that they cannot be properly vetted because of inadequate intelligence on who the bad guys are.

As Governor Daugaard dragged his feet for days other Governors across the nation took a stand against having Syrian refugees settled in their back yards. Now Governor Daugaard has only joined in calling for additional background checks and refuses to fight the federal government if they decide to choose South Dakota as their dumping ground.

I was recently asked if there is a Biblical case for refusing entry to the United States for Syrian refugees. While there are a number of practical reasons why this is advisable, Christians seek to base their opinions and decisions on the Bible, since it is the source of all meaningful truth.

Nobody is really arguing that refugees legitimately fleeing the war are the threat per se, just that there is apparently no safe way to tell them apart from the Fifth Columnists who are sneaking in, as evidenced by the Paris attacks.

Those who bother to look at a map of the Middle East can’t help but notice that Syria is surrounded by a plethora of Islamic or Islam-friendly nations. Why are the Muslim refugees not seeking asylum in those countries? What about the danger of terrorist among Muslim refugees?