Does Pence make sense? Does he honor Hoosiers or again make us look like bigots? Let’s consult the facts, not our fears. Since 9/ll only some 37 Americans have been killed by Islamists– fewer than by other terrorists–while 90 thousand Americans have been murdered, many with firearms. Who’s more dangerous? Were Islamists looking to infiltrate our borders, there are many quicker and easier ways, so Syrian refugees, many of them Christian or minorities, are hardly a significant source of danger. Alas, there are enough extremists already living here. America benefited from Jewish refugees in Hitler’s time, and can again benefit from new talents and viewpoints.

Some candidates want to exclude Muslims only. This is un-American. Such anti-Muslim discrimination, Islamophobia, gives credence to the ISIL propaganda according to which we Westerners are opposing Islam. Whatever our beliefs, we need the cooperation of all groups to alert the police about dangerous radicals, Islamists among them. The great majority of Muslims oppose Islamist distortions of their religion, as their leaders have repeatedly told us. We need to stand with them.

Yes, the cycles of warfare and despotism in the Middle East have been a breeding ground for beliefs that motivate people to do horrible deeds. But no one seems to have the knowledge or will to take the steps needed to pacify and establish legitimate governments in the region.

Yes, many of the nation’s Governors have warned, and Federal authorities know, resettling refugees from war-torn regions to the United States is risky. But traditions, laws, and humanitarian instincts, here and elsewhere, mean that restrictive immigration policies are not likely to get very far, no matter how much anxious publics want them.

In any case, such policies would create a false sense of security. For the attacks in Paris, as well as those recently in the United States, were largely the work of home-grown extremists, legal residents, part of the societies in which they lived. However, they used the liberal values these countries embrace – freedom of speech, religion, privacy rights, and the like – to pursue decidedly illiberal ends.

Neither military action abroad nor tougher immigration rules at home will prevent that. If they want to avoid a repeat of what happened in Paris, the United States, France and other countries will once again have to confront the challenge of deciding how much freedom more security is worth.

Sources

Bret Stephens, “The Islamist Tantrum,” The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2015.

Michael Schmidt et. al., “ U. S. Investigators Struggle to Track Homegrown ISIS Suspects,” The New York Times, November 19, 2015.