Kerby Anderson

Andrew McCarthy says we have been asking the wrong question about vetting refugees from Muslim countries. The question asked by the federal judge in Seattle (and also asked by many critics and commentators) is: How many terrorist attacks have been committed by immigrants from these Muslim-majority countries? The answer we discovered is 72, at least according to a Senate Subcommittee on Immigration report.

Instead, Andrew McCarthy says the real question we should pose to politicians is this: Do you think Islam needs reform? Many might believe the question is a non sequitur. Why should we be asking that question?

He argues that Islam does need reform. First because there are “a significant subset of Muslims who adhere to an anti-American totalitarian political ideology that demands implementation of sharia—Islamic law.” This ideology rests on an interpretation of Islamic teaching that leads to sharia supremacism (what many call “radical Islam”).

Second, he notes that these “sharia supremacists are acting on a voluntary apartheid strategy of gradual conquest.” These Muslim leaders encourage other Muslims to integrate into Western societies without assimilating Western culture. He quotes from one leader who says pressuring Muslims to assimilate is “a crime against humanity.”

McCarthy says we need to move beyond the “are we targeting Muslims nonsense and get to the critical question: How do we embrace our Islamic friends while excluding out sharia-supremacist enemies?” The people most interested in Islamic reform are Islamic reformers. They embrace Western values and American constitutional principles of liberty and equality. Of course, we must also support them and protect them because they are often the first targets of the sharia-supremacists.

Islam needs reform. We should welcome the Muslims who believe in reform and vet other Muslims who will always resist reform.