Steven Greffenius · @sgreffenius
30th Jan 2017 from TwitLonger
Small steps, all in one direction
Trump's order on immigration is troubling not only because of its immediate effects, but because of the direction it points. It uses exactly the same logic Nazis used to place restrictions on Jews in Germany:
Some communists are Jews. Communists are our enemies. Therefore we have to get rid of all Jews. Authorities undertook anti-Jewish measures in small steps through the thirties, until enactment of the final solution.
Note carefully the reasoning of those who back Trump:
Some terrorists are Muslim. Terrorists are our enemies. Therefore we have to get rid of all Muslims. We have been taking small steps in this direction for some time now. Trump's order is alarming because it fits a larger pattern of anti-Muslim discrimination. A lot of people sense that if we allow this order to stand, we will see more of them - with spokespeople repeating like robots, "We have to keep Americans safe."
As Bonhoeffer and many other Germans understood, when you attack one group, no one is safe. Americans understand that. If we cannot stop Trump's attacks, we are all in great danger. We have to find effective methods to persuade people who carry out his orders to rethink their role, to quit acting as the enforcement arm of a tyrant.
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Travelers Stranded and Protests Swell Over Trump Order
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/politics/white-house-official-in-reversal-says-green-card-holders-wont-be-barred.html?_r=0