Testing, testing

No no no. We don’t need a “Sharia test.” That’s ridiculous.

Newt Gingrich says we do.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested testing all US Muslims to see if they believe in Sharia, and deporting those who do.

Mr Gingrich’s comments follow an attack in the French city of Nice, which has killed at least 84 people.

His comments echo the sentiments of Donald Trump, who has said Muslims should be banned from entering the US.

That’s a crap idea for civil rights reasons and basic decency reasons, but even if it were acceptable to go around “testing” citizens and immigrants in that way, believing in Sharia would be the wrong criterion. I hate religious laws in general, and the ones that conflict with secular human rights in particular, but many millions of people believe in them, and we can’t seal them all off. I dislike religious conservatism and don’t want it interfering with people’s rights, but I don’t get to exile all the religious conservatives. Most people who believe in Sharia do not believe in mass murder. Gingrich is being a scaremongering xenophobic fascist by saying what he said.

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