By Ray Cardello for December 25, 2025, Season 33 / Post 37

Growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in the 50’s and 60’s was a very early education in the impact of various nationalities and religions on a community. There were no walls or boundaries, but each nationality had its own unique section of the city with ethnic grocery stores and churches named after its patron saints. I, of course, lived in the Italian/Catholic neighborhood and was not exposed to the other cultures until we all meshed in high school. It was an awakening, but it was a peaceful one. No particular group exerted superiority, and everyone blended. When the Vietnamese, Puerto Rican, and Haitian immigrants arrived in Lawrence in the 70’s, the demographics and culture were forever changed. They took over the inner city and pushed the existing families to the outskirts. The older residents were exiled from Lawrence to neighboring towns, and Lawrence has never recovered from the drastic change. There was no violence in the takeover. It was just a case of people moving into town with no intention of assimilating, but recreating their homeland and culture to reform Lawrence. The effort failed miserably, and Lawrence has been bankrupt and under federal receivership for decades. Seeing what the Islamists are trying to do to America today is a deja vu experience for me, and not one filled with pleasant memories.

What we are beginning to experience in America is an Islamic takeover. What started as a humanitarian effort to rescue people from vile situations in their homelands in Africa or the Middle East has morphed into these people banding together to take over local governments and influence regional and federal politics. There is nothing clandestine about their motives; in fact, they are quite overt. They intend to convert America into an Islamic state under Shariah law, and unknowing or ignorant Americans are accomplices in the crusade. The New York City mayoral race was an effective diversion from what was taking place in dozens of cities and towns across America this fall. All eyes were on Zohran Mamdani; meanwhile, 82 Islamic candidates were elected in various races, from local to federal. Muslims try to convince us they are a peaceful people. Yet, their anti-American and anti-Israel chants, including “death to America,” and “from the river to the sea,” say otherwise. There are numerous videos on social media showing elected Muslim officials in the United States pledging allegiance to their homeland. You should not be in a political office in America, placing your hand on a bible and supposedly serving Americans, while pledging your allegiance to a homeland in Africa or the Middle East.

People of the Middle East and Africa are very patient and realize their plan to take over America will not come to fruition in their lifetime. Still, they are satisfied doing their part today for a new order in America in the future. Assimilation is not in their vocabulary or plans. Their intention is a takeover and cultural change, period. It is not racist to want to protect our lifestyle, culture, or nation, and we must be prepared to be called such for resisting this takeover in the name of religion. Their rhetoric must be recognized and neutralized, or we will wake someday to our cathedrals replaced by mosques or traffic jams caused by massive morning prayers on the streets. This country was built on religious tolerance and acceptance, but not by religious crusade.

In one of Ronald Reagan’s last speeches, he talked about the difference between America and other countries. He said you do not go to Italy and become an Italian or to France and become a Frenchman. But people can come to America and eventually become Americans. This is not only true, but we have helped and spilled American blood in foreign countries to protect their identities, and now it is time to protect ours. We have been a country built on immigration, but we will cease to be a country if we allow ourselves to be changed to conform to immigrants. It is time to be selfish and let these people know they are not welcome, and they can use the same door to leave as they came in.