THW Temporarily Ban Muslim Immigration

Introduction When we incite terrorist attacks, we are actively harming innocent civilians, an utterly immoral thing to do. Unfortunately, some Americans are mistakenly in support of a proposal that would make the threat of terrorism worse. While ostensibly a proposal to defeat terrorism, Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States would actually worsen the problem of terrorism by angered Muslims at home solely to prevent the minor threat of terrorism by non-residents, making it increase terrorism on balance. Thus, I stand opposed to the proposal that this house would temporarily ban Muslim immigration. Signpost In order to demonstrate my case, I shall first refute my opponent’s points and then put forward two points of my own: how this proposal makes terrorism worse, and how it’s principally incorrect and appalling. Refutations My opponent has argued that because the majority of Muslims are located overseas, the main Islamic terrorist threat to Americans comes from overseas. Thus, stopping Muslims from coming here from overseas would reduce terrorism. In reality, this argument falls flat because the majority of Islamic terrorists are American citizens or permanent residents; thus, banning Muslim immigration wouldn’t remove the main Islamic terrorist threat to Americans.[1] Instead, it would simply incite anger from American Muslim groups, creating more terrorism, as explained in my first argumen. This threat outweighs the benefits of the proposal because it would only prevent a small fraction (less than 9%, according to my calculations based on the chart) of terrorism, while angering the group responsible for the most terrorism—permanent residents or citizens who radicalise at home. My opponent has also argued that Islamic principles are in conflict with Western values, raising the example of homophobia. This is in spite of the fact that Christianity, which has moulded Western values for centuries, also has followers who develop homophobia from religion. Constructive arguments Worsening of terrorism Despite being promoted as a solution for terrorism, a ban on Muslims coming to the United States would actually increase terrorism on balance. While it may slightly reduce terrorism from foreign Muslim extremists who come to the United states to do harm, this reduction would be minuscule because most Islamic terrorists are American residents or citizens. [1] On the other hand, the proposal would cause Muslims inside the United States to become violent or extreme. People join groups like the Islamic State because they don’t feel like they belong in American society. [2] By targeting Muslims with a policy that bans them from immigrating out of their religious beliefs, the policy ends up making Muslims feel unwelcome. It also backs up inflammatory rhetoric from the Islamic State, which states that the United States is hostile to Muslims and uses that to justify some of its actions. Thus, this proposal would cause people to join radical groups inside the United States and commit jihad against a state that they feel oppressed by, creating massive amounts of terrorism. Wrong on principle Banning Muslims from coming to the United States is principally wrong because it is discrimination. If a Muslim wants to enter the United States, and is denied an ability to immigrate here for his religion, then his rights and privileges are being restricted because of his religion. Because religion is a personal choice that everyone has a right to have, discriminating based on it is a violation of human rights. If the Muslim is unable to come here due to religion, he might be pressured into leaving his faith or pretending to just to immigrate; because the government, which is supposed to not restrict worship, would be the one imposing this pressure, this is principally wrong. Conclusion In this debate, I have demonstrated both practical and principle reasons why a ban on Muslim immigration is wrong. As such, let it be resolved that this house would not temporarily ban Muslim immigration. [1]http://www.vox.com... [2]http://fortune.com...