Last week, coordinated terrorist attacks murdered hundreds of people and injured hundreds more. Assuming ISIS did indeed carry out these heinous acts, they have tested the resolve and courage of liberal democracy not just in France and Lebanon but also across the world.

Hundreds were martyred not for any ideology, not in the name of freedom or liberal, secular values. They were not martyred on account of direct participation in any war. They were martyred because they lived in a certain area and were going about their lives as if it was another day.

Despite the atrocious killing of hundreds in Paris and Beirut, global jihadists threaten to take another victim: the basic decency that should accompany multicultural liberal republics.

Lolita Brayman and George P. Mann from the Guardian wrote Nov. 17 that 26 American states have refused, unconstitutionally, to take refugees. International commerce and travel is in fact covered under Congressional powers by the Constitution, but these governors think taking a xenophobic tone is worth their energy.

Brayman and Mann also point out the already extensive list of checks, searches and certification necessary to claim refugee status, let alone enter another country with legal residency. Yet, fearful voices across the world have seen fit to shame the name of liberal, multicultural democratic republicanism by claiming refugees might hide potential terrorists in their numbers.

The first casualty after Paris and Beirut is our ability to embrace the other. The second seems to be reason.

Washington Post columnist Lydia DePillis pointed out in a Nov. 18 article how ridiculous the fear of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in fact is. She cites that out of 784,000 refugees taken in by the United States since September 11, 2001, exactly three were arrested on charges of terrorism. This sample would estimate about four in one million probability of a refugee being a terrorist.

Even more damning to the fear mongers in this country and abroad is the national origin of some of the Paris bombing perpetrators. One of the alleged masterminds was reported by the Associated Press to in fact be a Belgian national of Moroccan descent. Indeed, instances of homegrown terrorist have been made more apparent as international intelligence agencies report people from their own countries joining ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The irony is that the people of Paris do not share in this fear and lack of reason. In fact, many took to the streets the day after the bombing not to only mourn and remember with words but also with actions. Cafés filled with extra patrons eating, drinking and socializing became for the average Parisian an act of political defiance.

With regard to the people of Beirut, they stare terrorism down every day. The structure of their entire political system – a scheme of power sharing between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians – reflects a desire to carve out an island of tolerance of coexistence in a sea of prejudice and death.

The prophets of suspicion as do not know whom they mistrust. Many are secularists, Christians or members of Muslim sects outside the extreme Sunni philosophy of ISIS. These include minority Shiites, Alawites and moderate Sunnis. Most are families fleeing the destruction of their homes, schools and businesses. They desire a free Syria but, quite reasonably, are not willing for Bashar al-Assad and ISIS to exhaust their bombs and soldiers first.

This is the time for liberal progressive values to claim our hearts and destinies. We are at war not just within extremism abroad but extremism at home. Presidential candidates, people contending to be the face of this country, are spewing hate and intolerance at every turn. They spit on the values of diversity and equal opportunity for all that made this country as great as it is.

Luckily, Gov. Inslee and the State of Washington are one of the few states to stand in solidarity with those huddled masses of people struggling to reach our shores. We in Washington are not discriminating between Christian and Muslim. We are not giving into fear.

It is time, then, that those self-righteously claiming Christian values yet exercising unchristian xenophobia to remember that democracy itself will only survive when we all exercise the virtues of faith, hope and love.

Tyler Laferriere is a first year master’s student in applied economics and statistics from Phoenix, Ariz. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.