Terrorist Witch Hunt

The witch hunt that seemed to get everyone excited today was about terrorism and racial profiling. All witch hunts seem to be motivated by fear, especially about something that is nonexistent or exaggerated. I feel that the danger presented by terrorism is somewhat exaggerated in American society. I once read that, based on past attacks, an average American has about a one in eighty thousand chance of being killed in a terrorist act. We feel a little more threatened than we actually are, which can result in distrust or hatred of people associated with terrorism, namely Middle Eastern Muslims. Only a diminutive group of radical Muslims actually participate in the violent acts, yet some feel that no Muslims can be trusted. There is nothing inherently wrong with Islam or Muslim people.

At the same time however, you can't say that a sixty year old grandma is just as likely to be a terrorist as a middle-aged Muslim man. I agree that statistics can be misleading and that you can never use past events to predict the future with absolute certainty. However, this does not mean that we must ignore past events completely. I have absolutely nothing against Islam itself. I have a friend who is Muslim, and I do not support racial profiling. I'm simply saying that there is a pattern that we see in regards to the ethnic and religious background of terrorists that should not be ignored for the sake of political correctness.