Proposals to ban all Syrian refugees from the USA are calls
for an abundance of caution. They assume
we cannot screen for terrorists adequately because there may be some
uncertainty. Marco Rubio presented the
argument. He said allowing 10,000
refugees into our country would be wrong because admitting one bad one
represents a greater harm than the good of providing refuge to 9,999
others. But that is backwards. He really said that helping 9,999 people is
not as important as being certain that there will not be one bad guy in the
bunch. That is simply not true.
We should take controlled and reasonable risks. Unless we are willing to do so, we must admit
to being ruled by the politics of fear.
And the politics of fear never brings out the best of us. It has put Japanese-American citizens in
internment camps, executed innocent people through aggressive prosecution and prevented
law-abiding citizens from boarding airplanes.
The politics of fear preys on our fears and breeds
cowardice. It is wrong. This is a time for courage, not cowardice. We must reject the politics of fear simply
because it is the right thing to do.