If you've turned on the news for even just five minutes, scrolled through Facebook or Twitter, or saw everyone posting pictures of The Eiffel Tower on Instagram, there's a 99 percent chance you know what's going on in the world.

On November 13th, The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacked France three times through suicide bombings outside the Stade de France, took and killed hostages at Bataclan Theater, as well as a series of mass shootings at other locations in France.

ISIS has recently released a video threatening France, Italy and the U.S., even going so far as to say that they were planning to blow up The White House. As an American and someone who lives not too far away from DC, I, like many others, am extremely uncomfortable with that idea. Of course, we all are. No one wants people to attack their land and start a war.

But, what a lot of us aren't talking about is the war that has already begun. What war am I talking about, you ask? It's not one that involves guns or any kind of knives. Instead, this time the weapons are insults and the victims are innocent Muslims.

Instead of focusing our time and attention on getting rid of ISIS, we have turned to instead attacking any Muslim we see. Don't believe me? Well...

40 percent of Republicans in North Carolina think Islam should be illegal...

(Source)

...And 20 percent of them said they weren't sure on their opinion. So, that could be up to 60 percent of people who think Islam should be illegal. Do you all remember how much you love to quote the amendments? Well, please let me invite you to stop focusing all your attention on the second amendment for a few minutes and take a glance at the first one.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of RELIGION, or prohibiting the FREE EXERCISE thereof; or abiding the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." (Amendment I)

Yeah, remember that? Congress legally can't make Islam illegal. Also, who do you think you are to call out an entire religion because of one group of people? Do we blame all Christians when another Christian kills someone? Do we blame all Buddhists if another Buddhist decides to kidnap someone? Do we blame all Jewish people if one Jewish man goes and rapes a bunch of women? No, we don't.

United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, called for Islamicphobic crimes to be in their own category.

(Source)

Islamicphobic crimes happen so often that the UK wants to make it its own category. That's when you know it's a problem.

Presidential Candidate Donald Trump wants to make all Muslim-Americans register themselves and have a special form of I.D.

(Source)

Does this remind you of anything? Maybe something like THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLOCAUST?!?!?!

One of Adolf Hitler's first moves in the Holocaust was making Jewish people wear special badges to identify themselves before he forced them all to concentration camps...Where exactly are you getting your inspiration from, Mr. Trump?

A threat to "kill all muslims" was made on Virginia Tech's campus.

(Source)

A piece of graffiti on the wall stated, "I will be here 11/11/2015 to kill all Muslims." My only question to anyone who legitimately wants innocent Muslims dead: Are you actually insane?!

31 states have said they are no longer welcoming Syrian refugees.

(Source)

There are two big arguments as to why this is wrong.

For starters, governors can't make this rule. If the federal government turns to a state and goes, "Let Syrian refugees in," they have to. They don't have the power to go against the federal government. In The Refugee Act of 1980 states "the number of refugees who may be admitted under this section...shall be such number as the President determines." Sorry governors, it's not your choice.

My second argument is something I don't do often. Normally, I try to refrain from straight up insulting someone's intelligence, but this time it is simply the only way to go. If you think that the U.S. post-9/11 just freely lets anyone into this country, then I am very afraid for our future generation. You do realize there is an entire process to coming into the U.S. as a refugee, correct? In fact, a girl named Arenessa said everything about her experience, which you can read about here. Please, do your research before you go on Facebook posting about how the U.S. should close their doors to Syrian refugees when you don't know anything about the process. Come on, people. And if you didn't want to do the research yourself, don't worry... I did it for you.

Amount of Refugees

MYTH: Syrian refugees come FLOODING into the country in mass amounts

FACT: Only 2,234 Syrian refugees have entered the U.S. since October 1, 2010 (source)

Refugees Terrorism

MYTH: All Syrian refugees are coming to the U.S. to bring terror and take over our land.

FACT: 0 Syrian refugees have been arrested or removed on terrorism charges. (source)

Syria Is Sending Men of Military Age

MYTH: The majority of Syrian refugees are males of military age - aka they're coming in to start a war on our soil

FACT: Only 2 percent of Syrian refugees are single males of military age. (source)

The Screening Process

MYTH: The U.S.'s screening process is weak and basically useless ~ we basically allow anyone in.

FACT: The process involves consultation with nine different government agencies, an intensive vetting process, which is even stricter for Syrian refugees than anywhere else. On average, the process takes 18 to 24 months and the nine government agencies meet weekly to discuss each refugee applicants. As a result of such rigorous interviewing and extreme background checking, only 50 percent of applications "pass." (source)

Now that you've read that, I hope your heart is beginning to change. But know, I can see where your argument is coming from. It's an argument out of fear, fear that every Muslim is out to kill you. But, newsflash: not every Muslim is out whispering "Death to America" under their breath. Not every Syrian wakes up and picks out their outfit for the day, eats their breakfast and then trains to go be a future suicide bomber in the U.S. In fact, I'd like to share a tip with you:

Hating on someone who goes to your school/works with you/lives near you who is Muslim is NOT going to defeat ISIS.

I don't know how to stress that enough. For some reason, people have this idea where if they "take down" the Muslims near them, that they are also going to take down ISIS... Is this the perfect moment for a #YouTried? So instead, if you really are serious about defeating all the hate in the world, there is one thing you cannot do: You cannot fight hate with hate. Hate NEVER wins the argument. Instead, you must fight hate with love.

I don't know if you know this, but ISIS thrives on people being afraid of them. If we stop being afraid and fight back not with hate, but with love, there can really be a change in people's hearts.

In conclusion, it's not only racist and utterly ridiculous to go out and commit hate crimes against Muslims, but it also does you no good. You get nothing out of it - ISIS still exists whether or not you hate on the people around you. You can't fight hate with hate - the only thing that can get rid of hate, is love.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr