Because it's Them not You

Submitted by Tim (United States), Dec 15, 2004 at 14:04

So if I'm reading all this right:

It's OK to profile based on religion or race - because it's them not you
It's OK to imprison innocent people based on this profiling - because it's them not you

While I agree that it's almost strictly radical Muslims that engage in terrorism, there has to be more to it than someone's religion or race before imprisoning them.

We have legal proceedings in this country, and rights guaranteed by our constitution and other laws. To ever step over the line and ignore the rights of individuals, or to imprison wrongly someone based solely on profiling, is to do damage that will haunt us for a long time. There's grave damage in this, because the very freedom that you are supposedly defending you have just taken away. The very principles which this country stand for, you have just violated. When you start doing this you will continue to do this, and pretty soon we'll be living in a 1970s East Germany type society.

WHERE ARE YOUR PAPERS SIR? HAVE YOU NO PAPERS? WHY ARE YOU ON THE STREET AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT?

Is this the society you prefer?

I guess you'll continue to speak in support of this system of profiling, of imprisoning innocents just in case they may have something to do with it (kinda like bombing the heck out of a country because it may someday create weapons which we don't approve of them having)

Until it's you who's behind bars, because you fit the profile that day. Think what a couple weeks in jail would do to your own life - and realize it's happening to those innocent peope.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".