TRUMP: Wrong on Muslims

Cultural exchange in the form of international research and scholarship is one of the most powerful tools for promoting the values of freedom and democracy. It is quite dismaying that the American public is currently considering abandoning this tool by electing a man who has promised to ban all foreign Muslims from entering the United States.

I am a North Idaho native currently studying in Massachusetts. In my studies, I interact constantly with people from places like Turkey, Lebanon and Pakistan. We talk about ethics, history, human rights, religion and the role of reason in society. As it happens, most of these foreign colleagues are women. Some of them are practicing Muslims, and many come from Muslim families. Over and over again, we find more to agree about than to dispute. Across the board, my international peers endorse freedom of expression and of religion; these principles allow them to do research here that would be difficult or dangerous in some of their home countries.

When candidate Trump and his supporters claim that they will ban Muslims from entering the United States, what I hear is that they will send many of my colleagues home. Such a move would be extremely counterproductive in the struggle to promote tolerance, reason and democracy throughout the Muslim world. To cut off the exchange of ideas between American and foreign researchers would have disastrous long-term consequences, increasing the risk of polarization and extremism from Morocco to Indonesia.

JEFF DITEMAN

Deerfield, Mass.