Letter to the Editor
I am a person who strongly believes that everyone is entitled to an opinion and when I read an opinion piece posted by Dr. Dana Andes where she is trying to educate people about Islam, I felt I needed to offer my opinion in response.
Dr. Andes is presenting in her letter what an extremist or a fanatic believes. Estremism does not represent all of Islam. In fact, extremism does not represent all of any religion, but sadly every religion does have it extremists. It is human nature.
To believe Muslim extremists and their claim they are the “True Islam” then we would have to say that Hitler represents all of Christianity or that the Ku Klux Klan represents all of Christianity.
Dr. Andes states that the Muslim goal is to eventually take over the world. Many years ago when Christian Europeans landed in the United States and encountered the Native Americans the Europeans felt it was their Christian duty to force the Native Americans to convert to Christianity and if they didn’t the Native Americans were enslaved, tortured or killed.
If Americans believe that Muslims want to take over the world or enslave us, then the sad reality we must face is that we have already enslaved ourselves with our hatred, fear and lack of knowledge about something or someone who is different. Our paranoia and fear have bound us in chains. We are our own worst enemy and only we can break our chains and set our minds and hearts free. Free to be open minded enough to take the time to learn from each other rather than sit in a cell we have made for ourselves with walls built from fear, hatred, indifference and bigotry.
Dr. Andes states she believes in freedom of speech, free enterprise and freedom of religion, but she contradicts herself about such freedom by asking West Virginians to write to Governor Justice to ask him to not let Muslims into West Virginia. It makes me wonder what her interpretation of freedom is. It sounds like it comes with conditions.
I believe in having an open mind and not to condemn or hate someone or something just because they are different. I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions. I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I believe in the two greatest commandments in the Bible – To love God with all your heart, mind, body and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself.
I also believe that we cannot tell if a person is bad or not just by looking at them. We cannot look into their hearts and see the badness – we know them only by their deeds and actions as an individual and not as a group.
If people spent more time building bridges rather than walls and if we learn to serve each other rather than expecting to be served, what a much better world this would be for everyone.
Kim Day
Parsons, WV
