Dec 16, 2015 1 min read

I was saddened to read in the Herald-Standard that 419 out of 569 responders to the Question of the Week agree with restricting Muslims from coming into the U.S.

To me, this is a disheartening indication that our fears and prejudices have won out over our long-held and cherished American values of religious freedom, tolerance, and charity. It means we are afraid to open our doors to families who have lost everything, victims of war and violence who have no other place to turn. We are willing to discriminate against millions of people because of their religion (though we ourselves cannot tolerate being discriminated against because of our religion.)

Can’t we see that this is the best result the terrorists could ever hope for? I only hope that this survey is not a true indication of how the majority of readers feel, and that we as a community are better than that.

Tom Waggoner

Farmington