Weighing risk vs. right

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ”

—New Testament book of Matthew.

If character is what you do when no one’s watching, then the issue of whether to resettle Syrian refugees in the U.S. — and Georgia — puts the C word and our actions before the entire world. Georgians should know that as our elected and public safety leaders wrestle with this toughest of policy matters while the world reels from the latest terror attacks.

Yes, these are perilous times for Georgians and everyone who reveres peace and freedom. Tough times demand commensurate risk-taking and that often requires balancing risk against what is the right, and just, thing to do. Only then do we determine what we’re really made of, and stand for, as a state and people.

If Georgians truly are who we’ve proclaimed ourselves to be — people of abiding religious faith, honor, ethics, generosity and morality — then we will make decisions that the world and coming history will judge favorably. If we falter or err, then we risk damaging the hard work we’ve undertaken to make Georgia a notable part of the global economy.

On the first business day after the Paris attacks, Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order forbidding officialdom from helping settle Syrian refugees here. Deal also wrote President Barack Obama, asserting that current screening is inadequate for those fleeing terror who seek entry into the U.S.

We’re sympathetic toward the rock and hard place dug in on either side of Deal and and other officials. They should be cautious, even skittish, about actions that could inadvertently put innocent people at heightened risk of harm from an insidious, ruthless enemy that’s intent on sowing fear through massive bloodshed.

Frankly, there’s no political downside here to shutting the door to Syrians.

There is for us all, though, the larger question of how tall we wish to stand alongside the best of America’s history and ideals. Do we want to measure well against our highest standards, or shrink from them while grasping for a certainty and safety that is already impossible to guarantee?

Remember Timothy McVeigh? American by birth. Decorated U.S. Army combat veteran. He murdered 168 people in front of a federal building in 1995.

Desperate Syrian refugees, fully half of them children, will not introduce terrorism to our shores. It’s already struck here, more than once.

Yes, we must be vigilant. It is prudent “to set a watchman” as the Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote. These fretful times require no less.

Yet, we cannot lose sight of what has drawn struggling souls to the U.S. for centuries. To do otherwise is to downplay, if not negate, our collective humanity, individual faith and beliefs about freedom.

Nationally, there’s a cry for more-stringent screening of Syrians who seek asylum here. This even as the U.N. and other agencies with reason to know say applicants from that war-ripped nation are already the most-thoroughly vetted of all. The process involves multiple agencies and takes years to complete. The list of players includes the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Given that, we’re skeptical that the state-level review of Syrian refugees here ordered by Gov. Deal will unearth something new of consequence. But if it helps assuage plentiful fears, then let’s go for it.

We believe that a most-powerful civilian deterrent to terrorism is to continue to live and walk as we’ve always done – cautiously, yes, but without fear or hysteria. We must ask ourselves whether panicking, or reflexively turning our back on those fleeing persecution, should be beneath our calling and duty as free citizens and people of faith.

For Georgia and its capital are tightly sewn into the fabric that links the entire civilized world. Atlanta, in many ways, is an international region, peacefully housing people from across the planet.