Syrian Refuges should be allowed to enter the United States of America.

My condolences go out to all the victims and the victims' families of the shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino this past week. It is being investigated as a terrorism incident, and so I recognize that it is relevant to this debate. The now-dead culprits of this massacre have been labeled radicalized musims by the FBI, and at least one of the active shooters hailed from Pakistan; she also pledged support to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during the massacre [1].This is a horrific tragedy, and unfortunately I know this will be used by many individuals in our country to paint all Muslims and people who descend from that part of the world as dangerous or potential converts to terrorism. Now, I don't want to take away from the fact that there definitely are fanatical muslims out there who want to harm people in the United States or elsewhere. We saw a horrific terror attack conducted by extremist Muslims in Paris just a few weeks ago. The promotion of terrorism within the United States or anywhere in the world is intolerable and we must stamp it out aggressively and thoroughly. We cannot give terrorists the opportunity to abduct the world with their poisonous philosophy and to replace the life-giving values of this world. It would be a massive failure on our part if we failed to constrain and ultimately reduce and eradicate the terrorist mindset. This is why we must take the threat of terrorism seriously in our country, and why I absolutely do acknowledge credibility in my opponent's perspective on this issue. Terrorism has the power to destroy the beautiful, promising, and life-affirming philosophies of modern civilization--and we cannot allow that poisonous thinking to infiltrate our own values and moral beliefs.And even though two radicalized muslims massacred fourteen people last week in San Bernardino, out of fanatical devotion to their perverted view of Islam, Muslims throughout the United States reacted to this news by criticizing it publically and passionately holding antiterrorism rallies inside our country [1][2]. Reports the Washington Post:"When the crowd arrived at Lafayette Park across from the White House, tourists pulled out their cellphones . . . The front row of the marchers was a phalanx of young boys holding posterboards with words such as 'Americans unite against Wahhabi terrorism,' 'Muslims against ISIS' and 'American Shia Muslims stand with the victims of San Bernardino.' . . . Ali Alkhafa, 23, a University of Maryland student who grew up in California but was born in a Saudi refugee camp, said 'Muslims aren’t as vocal as we need to be . . . It’s cultural. We’re welcoming but not as open to one another as we should be. My folks’ generation are still isolated [by ethnic group], but my generation is really open'" [2].And these individuals are hardly the exception. In Germany last September thousands of Muslims took part in "A Day of Peace" rally, where they protested against the Islamic State extremist group, which at least one perpetrator of the San Bernardino massacre pledged to support [3][1]. The event was organized by mainstream Muslim groups in Germany to emphasize their disapproval of the extremist group's ideology and barbaric actions in Syria and Iraq [3]. A few days later, in France, thousands of Muslims took to the streets in protest of the cruel tactics of the ISIS terror group; they also tweeted through the internet to express disapproval of the group's murderous ideology, through the hashtag campaign #notinmyname (French: #pasenmonnom), which was initiated by British Muslims to express opposition to extremist violence [4]. The protest was organized after ISIS militants videotaped the beheading of a French hostage and distributed the video through the internet. Muslims throughout France and Europe rallied to denounce the beheading and to express that ISIS is a perversity of their religion [4]. Said the rector of the Grand Mosque in Paris during the rally: "[The French Tourist] was the victim of a cowardly murder. Islam demands respect for life . . . The Koran tells us that to kill one man is to kill all humanity" [4].Two days earlier, US Muslim leaders and scholars distributed an open letter denoucning ISIS militants point by point; they expressed outright condemnation of the "killing of innocents" and jihad [4].A week after the November 13 terror attacks in Paris, Italian muslims valiantly trudged through heavy rain to rally against Islamic militants and terrorism [5]. Using the familiar banner "Not in my name", hundreds gathered in an Italian square in Rome to denounce the violent extremist group and the carnage of evil it claimed responsibility for in Paris [5]. "These terrorist groups are only creating hate between peoples and between religions," said Mustapha Hajraoui, president of the Italian Islamic Confederation" [5]. "We are here to say 'no' because our religion is not a religion of terrorism, it is not a religion of war but of peace and coexistence" [5]. Reuters News Service reported that "Marchers chanted 'no to terrorism', held placards saying 'terrorism is a cancer' and 'we are not the enemy', and listened to a message of support from Italian President Sergio Mattarella.Before the terror attacks on Paris last month, Muslims around the world have been rallying against extremist violence and terrorism for years, from New Delhi, India [6] to Nigeria [8] to Britain's major cities [7]. Sheik Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council in Britain, said in 2005:"[We take part in marches because] the idea is to show we are united in condemining this murderous act. It would send a very strong message to the terrorists and to the British public that we are against violence and want to live in peace. The terrorists will not drive a wedge between us" [7].On November 18th of this year, scores of Muslims gathered at a rally in Bopal, India to protest terrorism with placards and banners, and to show support for the victims of the horrific Paris attacks a few days earlier [9]. In the United States, Muslims reacted to the Paris terror attacks and the attack in San Bernardino by publically protesting ISIS and Islamic militants. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, for example, a group of Muslim Americans stood outside their Mosque holding posters to condemn the killings and to clear up misconceptions about what they believe [10]. Imam Morsy Salem, a religious leader at the Grand Rapids Mosque, explained to a local television news program that it’s important that people know the vast majority of the those who practice Islam have nothing to do with ISIS [10]. Events like these have been playing out throughout the country since the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino. Even though it's easy to get the impression that Islam and terrorism go hand in hand, these stories show that the vast majority of muslim adherents are not terrorists and in fact do not condone violence against innocent individuals. Most Muslims both within the United States and elsewhere disapprove of violent extremism and terrorism, particularly that commited by ISIS (also known as Daesh) or Al Queda. The vast majority of Muslims in the United States and that wish to migrate here (resettle here) want to live in peace in pursuit of happiness and prosperity, and it would be a major moral and humanitarian failing on our part to deny them this opportunity out of blind fear. Most of these individuals are good people, that want to do their share and live the American dream.I agree with my opponents's view that some fear can be helpful, particular when it comes to terrorism and its genuine destructive effects. But too much fear is not healthy either. It's bad US policy to make enemies out of people that don't want to be our enemies, but that want to be our friends--and ultimately Americans! There's too much risk of turning good Muslims into potential opponents by transforming American policy against them.No. The responsible thing to do as a nation, the best path forward, is to be cautious but take the time and energy to properly vet refugees from the Middle East and Syria, and distinguish promising candidates from the potentially violent and irresponsible. It's a task that requires time, manpower, money, and energy, but that's always been the situation when America has accepted immigrants onto its shore. Fear is only helpful when it allows us to make more responsible, better thought-out choices--not when it forces us to make hasty decisions and inferior prejudices. Responding to terror incidents by denigrating an entire ethnic or religous group is the exact kind of poison that terrorist groups are already drinking.There's a better way to respond to terrorism, and that's by treating people by their merits. We should proceed cautiously and appraise refugees thoroughly. But we don't have to make them all our enemy, especially since many want to be our friend.I say let's help fix Syria, and accept worthy refugees.[1] http://www.cnn.com...[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com...[3] http://www.foxnews.com...[4] http://www.cbsnews.com...[5] http://www.reuters.com...[6] http://www.firstpost.com...[7] http://www.religionnewsblog.com...[8] http://muslimsagainstterror.com...[9] http://www.gettyimages.com...[10] http://woodtv.com...