This Week In God (Maddow Blog) [View all]

(sorry I haven't posted this in ages. I've been out of town, and working on the local "Nutcracker" ...which sux, BTW )

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First up from the God Machine this week is an alarming quote from the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, who thinks it may be possible for the United States government to close houses of worship, the First Amendment notwithstanding.

Mother Jones reported this week on Donald Trump exploring the limits of his anti-ISIS strategy, when he raised the possibility of unprecedented action.

In an interview on Fox Business, host Stuart Varney asked Trump whether, if elected president, he would follow the anti-ISIS lead of the British government, which has revoked the passports of people who traveled to fight alongside extremists, and has planned to close mosques that are “used to host extremist meetings or speakers.”

“I would do that, absolutely, I think it’s great,” Trump responded. Varney pressed Trump on whether he even could close a mosque, citing religious freedom as a possible roadblock.

Trump conceded he wasn’t sure, but he was open to the possibility. “It depends, if the mosque is, you know, loaded for bear, I don’t know,” the GOP candidate said during the on-air interview. “You’re going to have to certainly look at it.”

An official for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a written statement, explaining, “Donald Trump’s apparent willingness to close down American mosques that he deems ‘extreme’ is totally incompatible with the Constitution and our nation’s cherished principles of religious freedom.”

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http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-102415?cid=sm_fb_maddow