Bryan Fischer Wants To Punish Barbarism With Barbarism By Paying American Muslims To Leave


Bryan Fischer at 2009 Values Voters Summit (from Americans United's Flickr feed)
Bryan Fischer at 2009 Values Voters Summit (image courtesy Americans United’s Flickr feed)

If it were up to Bryan Fischer, the afternoon drive-time host on American Family Radio, Muslims wouldn’t just be banned from immigrating to this country as Donald Trump wants. Nope, Fischer wants any Muslims who are already in this country to be paid to leave our shores and resettle in the Muslim world. His idea can only be described as punishing one act of barbarism with another.

For some time, Fischer has demanded that Muslims be banned from immigrating to this country. As early as 2010, for instance, he not only demanded that Muslims be banned from entering this nation, but that all Muslims already in this country be deported. He also thinks that Muslim servicemen should be kicked out of the military. So naturally, he gave Trump’s call for a ban on Muslim immigration a standing ovation on Tuesday’s edition of “Focal Point.”

But Fischer would go further than that. He thinks American Muslims should be paid to pack up and leave the country. Watch here.

Fischer took a call from “Janet” in Texas. As Janet sees it, “we don’t need to allow any more Islamists in this country.” Apparently for Janet, if you’re a Muslim, you’re an Islamist. But Janet goes further. She thinks that Muslims who have fled persecution in their home countries at the hands of the likes of the Islamic State should “go to another Islamic nation.”

Fischer enthusiastically agreed. He thought it ought to be “part of our immigration policy” to help Muslims already in this country find a home “in the Muslim world.” If they were to be resettled in a Muslim country, Fischer says, they would be able to live their lives and not conflict with “our religious liberty” and “our Judeo-Christian value system.”

Before you assume that this is an act of compassion on Fischer’s part, consider that Fischer has let it be known that immigrants to this country should be handed an ultimatum–convert to Christianity or leave. Fischer reminded us of this in a post at the American Family Association’s official blog, “The Stand.” He argued that God barred Ammonites and Moabites from immigrating to Israel because of their “historic animosity” toward the Israelites. However, an exception was made for Ruth, a Moabite, because she “happily assimilated” into Israel and accepted the God of Israel as her God.

The message here is obvious in my mind. If it were up to Fischer, any Muslim who flees to this country should be told to get back on the boat and leave unless they become a Christian. And if it were up to Fischer, American Muslims would be told that unless they renounced Islam and became Christians, they should take a check, pack up, and leave. If this is any different in spirit from the manner in which ISIS forces non-Muslims who happen to fall under their thumb to convert or die, I don’t see it. It’s barbarism, plain and simple. And Fischer’s attempt to put a velvet glove on it doesn’t make it any less barbaric.

When Congressman David Jolly called for Trump to get out of the presidential race, he denounced Trump as “a small man” for trying to turn the fight on terror from a debate about national security to a debate about religion. Well, Fischer has also revealed himself as a small man. While he is trying to couch this as a way to combat terror, it amounts to punishing barbarism with barbarism. This is un-American. This is un-Christian. And this is flat-out wrong.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.