Name:   copperline - Subject:   Copperline Date:   3/3/2016 5:04:01 PM

You are in a small minority of people in this part of the country who has direct & personal relations with Muslim people then, and I hope you make wise use of that knowledge by sharing it regularly.   Yes, we do need to protect the nation from terrorists as much as we can without compromising our basic freedoms or legitimizing discrimination.   Practically speaking, the worst thing we can do if we want to win the war on terror is to increase racial &/or religious discrimination.   Doing that just feeds the monster and promotes people to join terrorist groups.

When I look at the Terrorism problem writ large, it has to include extremists from any number of religions.  It's a mistake to sell the idea that Muslims are dangerous by pushing these border safety policies too far.   Maybe we should be pushing the idea that any religious zealotry is dangerous, and we should be screening all sorts of people for their degree of religious affiliation & devotion.   But it's obvious that would be going too far.  No such policy could be formed or enforced.  I hope.

As to profiling, I always thought that was a legitimate way to train police officers.   In application on the streets, however, it can be counterproductive... especially in communities that already have too-tense race relations.   Ferguson MO is probably a good case in point.   A law enforcement tool misapplied can result in more problems sometimes.   Same with a ban on Muslims.

It is important to know who is coming into this country and for what purpose.  We badly need a rational reassessment of immigration policy and border security and when enough people in this country quit being so hysterical about it, we might get it done.   But the national conversation we are having isn't very reasonable.

For the record, I just don't think any of the Presbyterians have been caught yet.  They are just that sneaky.