Targeting Muslims in the US

Opinion: February 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times: Next month, Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to hold hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims. Unlike some of his critics, we don’t think King is motivated by animus toward Islam. Nor do we believe that the hearings’ subject matter should be broadened, for appearances’ sake, to include other sorts of extremism. If the radicalization of American Muslims is, as King suggests, a significant and growing threat to the nation’s security, then hearings should by all means be held.

The problem is that King hasn’t identified such a threat, and certainly not at a level that would justify singling out one religion to be targeted for special scrutiny.Obviously, some American Muslims have been converted to radical Islam and have engaged in terrorism.

The missing premise

But the premise of King’s hearings has yet to be established. And while ordinarily no great harm is done when a hearing is based on inadequate evidence, the proceedings to be chaired by King are different. They appear to attribute danger and disloyalty to one particular religious group — a group that is, not incidentally, relatively unpopular at the moment.

It is especially worrisome that the committee might adopt an overly broad definition of “radicalization”; committee members should remember that many “radical” notions are protected under the First Amendment. Thankfully, some of the more vehement critics of Islam are not on the witness list, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a Muslim who challenges King’s thesis, is. So the hearings may not be as incendiary as some fear.