Yesterday I had the privilege to speaking at a National Review Institute-sponsored event on Capitol Hill. The topic was “fact and fiction in fighting ISIS,” and my goal was to give the audience a taste of the complexity and difficulty in fighting an enemy motivated by 1,300-year-old religious ideology. I emphasized that while no single tactic is foolproof, our enemy constantly and always exploits American weakness. We do not win through withdrawal.
After the speech, a very sincere young intern approached and asked what I proposed to do about “Islamophobia” and expressed concern that rhetoric like mine could inflame hatred against Muslims.
I responded that our nation goes to great lengths to secure the blessings of liberty for Muslim citizens, including by banning religious discrimination in the workplace and prohibiting federal, state, and local governments from violating their rights to free exercise of religion. When I asked what, specifically, concerned him, he related with great emotion the story of a friend who was told something like “go back to Saudi Arabia” while wearing a hijab in the college quad.
Frankly, I was incredulous. An actual rational human being was arguing that I should temper my rhetoric about an terrorist army that burns people alive, beheads them on camera, and tosses them from rooftops because somebody, somewhere, might be rude to a Muslim. I feel bad that a young lady was mocked, but it is not the role of the government to ensure that every American enjoys pleasant and affirming social interactions. Doubtless this Muslim woman has ample friends or family who can console her after that encounter, but there is literally no public policy that can protect America while also controlling rude people.
I also noted that since 9/11 America’s Jewish citizens have been far more likely to be victims of hate crimes than Muslims. Yet is there a national conversation about anti-Semitism remotely comparable to all the emoting about Islamophobia?
I wouldn’t single out this one encounter if it weren’t for the fact that he serves as a stand-in for a depressing number of campus activists. There are many, many students, professors, and administrators who do, in fact, worry more about the feelings of their Muslim colleagues than the lives of the countless victims of Islamic terror. They would deny it, of course, but their energy and activism tells us where their hearts are. Microaggressions matter more than aggression, and even the truth is subordinate to feelings. A nation will struggle to defend itself when a number of its citizens believe that facts are simply too inflammatory to speak.
A Telling Exchange About 'Islamophobia'