Look, I understand where your heart was when you wrote this piece. I agree that our foreign policy is and has been horrendously foul. I understand and appreciate the argument that our foreign policy decisions have led to the inevitability of hostile, violent reciprocity. I fully support all immigration, including Muslim immigration, into the US because I firmly believe that pluralistic thought strengthens our democracy, culture, and society. Most of the backlash that you’re receiving in response to this article is a result of the simplification of your message, not the validity of the message itself.

That being said, there is no amount of love, contrition, understanding, humility, apology, or any other unilateral, outward display of compassion that can possibly heal this wound and seal this rift. I do believe, given the right leadership, that it is still possible for Americans to drop their biases, embrace forgiveness, and welcome the Muslim community at large. We may be broken, but we aren’t that broken. However, I am unable to picture a future in which that forgiveness is offered in a reciprocal fashion, especially when considering the reality that Islam has two warring factions and no singular, unifying nation state identity.

The only way to break this cycle is to utterly destroy fundamentalism on either side of the divide, and I just don’t know how we go about accomplishing that objective. Sunni and Shiite Islam must reach peace. If these warring sects can cooperate under a more unified belief structure and coalesce around the right group of international Islamic leaders, then I believe that peace and prosperity is achievable for all parties. In the meantime, we are left with the dwindling prospects of inverted colonialism; accepting immigrants, imparting our value systems, and hoping they spread those values and ideals throughout the Muslim community both here and abroad.