If Thomas Paine were alive today, instead of penning, "These are the times that try men's souls," he might write, "These are the times that try men's humanity." There is ample reason to worry.
As the leading edge of a Syrian refugee flood is poised to wash into the United States early next year, the slaughter in Paris has triggered a growing fear of Muslim jihadis. In turn, that has stiffened resistance to the federal government's allowing, first, 1,500 Syrians into the country -- joining 1,854 allowed in since 2012 -- and then another 10,000.
An estimated 9 million Syrians have been displaced by civil war and murderous oppression by their government and ISIS. Europe, foundering under the onslaught, is being asked to absorb hundreds of thousands, if not millions, as they flee their homes.
The political brawl in this country over the Syrians' fate has at least 31 of the nation's governors -- all but one of them nasty ol' Republicans, the news media repeatedly points out -- demanding a moratorium on the refugees' U.S. entry to ensure the vetting process is all it should be. After all, ISIS has vowed to infiltrate the refugee ranks.
The federal government, though, has final say on immigration. President Barack Obama, who makes up in arrogance what he lacks in good sense and strategies for combating radical Islam, openly mocks opponents who "pop off" and denigrates Republicans as recruiters for ISIS. He is determined to bring the Syrians in.
Oddly, while Obama would welcome more Syrians, last year he failed to send troops to protect thousands of Yazidis as they fled ISIS slaughter in Iraq. Last week, searchers in the Solagh area east of Mount Sinjar unearthed a mass grave of perhaps 70 older Yazidi women whom townspeople say were killed by ISIS. Younger women, they say, were abducted as sex slaves.
The fight over Syrian refugees is even finding its way to Alaska. Gov. Bill Walker sadly is not among governors standing up to Obama. Alaska's congressional delegation, though, has voiced its opposition to allowing the Syrians entry without ensuring this nation's safety.
The Syrian refugees' plight has become a centerpiece in the raucous battle over our nation's broken immigration system and the federal government's abject failure to control our borders. The debate is magnified by the Paris attacks, by reports of immigrants admitted to the United States and later being charged with terrorism, and recent stories about Syrians apprehended when they tried to enter the United States illegally.
Despite Obama's recalcitrance, the governors, senators and congressmen who oppose admitting the refugees without first checking the vetting system are absolutely correct. We can, after all, be compassionate without being stupid.
There will be more such fights as our allies and even our enemies come under attack by murderous religious fanatics and people are uprooted. In the long view, we will prevail because we must. The unsettling part about looking into the future is what we may become in getting there.
As we fend off the snarling dogs, there will be those urging us to shelve the Constitution's protections to allow the government more latitude in protecting us. There will be calls to turn our backs on our humanity for the sake of security; to abandon individual freedom for collective safety. They will be difficult to ignore. Consider how much we already have given up since that bloody morning in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists changed the world.
Who could have envisioned the security state in which we now live? Who could have guessed at the lives and treasure squandered in Iraq? Or Afghanistan? Or in any of the dark corners and back alleys of the Middle East? Who could have seen the quick erosion of our liberties and freedoms? Or the domestic spying; the growing kakistocracy (government by the worst people); or, the utter disdain for the Constitution by a sitting president and the cowardice of Congress? Oh, our betters will assure us, we must cut corners here, fudge there, bruise constitutional strictures for the common good. It is for your safety, they will say. The danger in that safety is we lose sight of who we are.
On the Syrian question, Obama is dead wrong. Before we import people from an area where jihadis are trained and recruited, where databases do not exist, where stolen and forged passports and documents are a way of life, where birth certificates are nonexistent and hatred for this nation is molten hot, we must be absolutely sure who they are. Even FBI Director James Comey says it will not be easy.
In the coming years, the challenge will be to preserve our culture and our Constitution while clinging to our humanity in the face of murderous threats from religious thugs.
The Syrian question is just the first test.
Paul Jenkins is editor of the AnchorageDailyPlanet.com, a division of Porcaro Communications.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary@alaskadispatch.com