LETTER TO THE EDITOR
In his letter titled “Unable to take terrorists at their words” published on 29 November 2015, Mr. Dermont Cooper falsely claims “one can find horrible stories in the Old Testament but in no way does this transcend into one believing that they must hurt, kill, rape or harm other people.”
May I remind him about the Crusades where 920 years ago, Pope Urban II referred to nonbelievers such as Muslims and Jews as the enemy and where hundreds of thousands of men embarked on war in the name of God, as they reveled in their slaughter.
In his noteworthy book, The Crusades notable historian Geoffrey Hindley wrote:
“Crusaders were riding up to their bridle reins in blood at the Dome of the Rock and called the massacre a splendid judgment of God”.
We should also never forget how no one else but an indifferent Christian Europe was responsible for the Holocaust.
Furthermore, 4,250 blacks were lynched, outside churches on Sundays by terrible people known as the Klu Klux Khan, a self-professed Christian organization.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white Christian supremacists and not Muslims, according to New America, a Washington research center.
In fact, all the killings of abortion clinic doctors and other employees are nothing short of Christian terrorism if the religion of the murderer is to be used for labelling such inhumane crimes.
Violence however is the exception, not the rule in Christianity, and the same is true for Islam, Mr. Cooper.
For those who might jump at this chance to criticise religion, atheists like Pol Pot, Stalin, Chairman Mao, etc., are just as much if not more, guilty for horrible crimes against humanity.
In fact, history is replete with examples of political leaders who used their words to incite hatred, start wars, and lead their people to commit genocide.
In other words, people with twisted ideologies are the problem Mr. Cooper, whether you follow Islam, Christianity in the case of Anders Brevik, Judaism in the case of Baruch Goldstein, Hinduism in the case of RSS, Buddhism in the case of Ashin Wirathu or for that matter, Secularism or Atheism in the case of Craig Stephen Hicks from UNC North Carolina killings.
Not religion, not race nor country of origin. To suggest otherwise is to be foolhardy.
SIDDIQ BAZARWALA
Siddiq Bazarwala 