He urged the audience to begin to examine this problem from a Constitutional vantage point.

“We should embrace the Constitution,” he said. “We should learn to have a discourse on that issue itself.”

But Cohen said he thought the courts would not be helpful in upholding Constitutional rights.

Rather, he advocated more public criticisms of government actions to ensure that Muslim Americans have their rights respected.

The panelists all noted that the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, which would allow de facto—rather than explicit and witnessed—termination of citizenship poses a serious threat to civil liberties.

If passed by Congress and signed into law, the legislation could allow the government to interpret any number of acts as indications that a citizen wants to end his or her citizenship, according to Cohen.

Citizenship could be revoked without explicit approval from citizens themselves, he said.

All three panelists stressed the need for solidarity with Muslim Americans.

“We have a lot of great players,” said Salaam, joking that he felt compelled to use a sports analogy. “But you can’t win alone.”

The discussion was moderated by Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Diana L. Eck.

—Staff writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu.