- Moderator
- #1
"Support" ranges from the relatively benign idea of bringing back Bush's National Security Entry-Exit Registration system, which expired in 2011 to something far more disturbing - the spector of internment camps and faith-based citizen registries. I honestly never thought people would be so scared they'd be willing to visit these ideas. You're far more likely to be a victim of a drunk driver, shooting accident or lightening strike than a victim of a terrorist attack on US soil.
But when people are scared, it's not very rational and it's much easier to find an easy scapegoat - vulnerable minorities who are still viewed as "not us" and therefore - it's easier to justify stripping them of their rights. I wonder, how advocates of this would feel if it was THEIR family, in the crosshairs of this "exploration of ideas"?
It's easy to understand the fear - ISIS is unquestionably brutal, Islamic extremism is sowing chaos, and most people in western cultures don't really understand Islam as a religious faith. When you have terrorists who can hide among a population like cancer cells biding their time - that fear, though misplaced in terms of real risk - is very very understandable.
On the other hand, it's also very easy to understand the fear of innocent American citizens who could find themselves being stripped of rights, treated differently than other Americans, and being in the cross-hairs of legislation that targets them soley because of their faith in a nation where faith is one of our foundational rights.
So how do you deal with something like this? How much FREEDOM and RIGHTS are you willing to relinquish for SECURITY? That's the real equation here - whether it's in issues of privacy and data (forcing companies to give access to private information) or issues of what to do with non-criminal American citizens who fall into a "suspect category". The spector of the McCarthy era returning suddenly seems very real.
Renewed Support For Muslim Registry Called 'Abhorrent'
But when people are scared, it's not very rational and it's much easier to find an easy scapegoat - vulnerable minorities who are still viewed as "not us" and therefore - it's easier to justify stripping them of their rights. I wonder, how advocates of this would feel if it was THEIR family, in the crosshairs of this "exploration of ideas"?
It's easy to understand the fear - ISIS is unquestionably brutal, Islamic extremism is sowing chaos, and most people in western cultures don't really understand Islam as a religious faith. When you have terrorists who can hide among a population like cancer cells biding their time - that fear, though misplaced in terms of real risk - is very very understandable.
On the other hand, it's also very easy to understand the fear of innocent American citizens who could find themselves being stripped of rights, treated differently than other Americans, and being in the cross-hairs of legislation that targets them soley because of their faith in a nation where faith is one of our foundational rights.
So how do you deal with something like this? How much FREEDOM and RIGHTS are you willing to relinquish for SECURITY? That's the real equation here - whether it's in issues of privacy and data (forcing companies to give access to private information) or issues of what to do with non-criminal American citizens who fall into a "suspect category". The spector of the McCarthy era returning suddenly seems very real.
Renewed Support For Muslim Registry Called 'Abhorrent'
