LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Clearing the record on the Islamic faith

If Ms. Davis of Ellendale styles herself such an expert on Islam because of one book [“Islam religion is tied with politics and military,” Opinion pages, May 13], maybe she would be interested in adding to her knowledge by checking out pages 155-344 in “The Age of Faith” by Will and Ariel Durant, which is the definitive history of Islam for me. Those two were quintessential historians not tainted by the hysteria of the present. When she is done, maybe she should step back and realize Islam is being used, as is Christianity, like any other religion to weak political and economic havoc. There are those who are now in power in our government who would return us to the witch-burning, banning books, imprisoning of doctors who support women and isolating the White House from the eyes of the people, good old days of Puritan rule. Being on a logic-less God-sanctioned mission is bad news for any nation and is not exclusive to Islam. Put Sharia law and very Old Testament law side by side, and be surprised. I also hope, in her deep study of history, she realizes that the Barbary Pirate incident for which the Marines were created was a purely economic endeavor, and I hope she has read the Treaty of Tripoli which ended it. She will note that its wording says the U.S. in no way is founded on a religion and that Congress and the president signed off on it. The Moslems may have bought slaves from the black chiefs, but they sold them to God-rearing Christians, who took slavery to a whole new level based on the religious strictures of the Old Testament and some strange aside that black skin was the mark of Cain. Islam has been split so many times and things have been reinterpreted so many times that isolating what Mohammed wrote is as hard as looking for what Jesus really said. History tells us Thomas Jefferson cut up the Bible and pasted together his own take on Jesus’ words, all the while saying no man would know his personal religion. Ben Franklin gave money at his death to all denominations, including Islam. The Moslem faith is warlike in its verbiage and action because it is comparatively young and was born in one of the harshest places on earth, the desert. Originally, infidels/unbelievers were the animistic Bedouin tribes. The clash between them and Islam could be compared to the clash between the Druids and Christianity. Never tell me that Christianity, at the age Islam is now, was not as violent, cruel and despicably used for political power supported by the military. Just a note, there are Christians that do not believe in the Trinity, as well. Great tortures were devised in the name of Christ. In recent times, doctors have been shot in their churches and offices by extreme Christians. I also wonder if Ms. Davis has ever spoken to a Moslem person about our Constitution and how they view it. A rabid, judgmental, holier-than-thou mindset simmers under the surface of our House or Representatives today when a member can say, in regard to health care, people who live a righteous life will not get sick or have pre-existing conditions, or when another member would have children go without school-sponsored lunches to build character and/or teach parents responsibility – suffer the little children! When Christ fed the masses, I don’t believe he asked for a visa or for proof of character. So much for the Christian bent of our legislators; sounds like evil is in the House. Religion of many stripes (being on a mission for God) more times than not has always been a shield for political/economic skullduggery powered by fear, with war as its weapon. Any student of the Constitution, such as Ms. Davis, can tell you the Founders left three big clues in the text of that wondrous document concerning religion: Article 2: the oath the president takes does not have “so help me God” in it. The First Amendment itself: guarantees the freedom from religion as much as freedom of religion. And the best one yet, Article 6: “ … no religious Test shall ever” (my favorite word) “be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” They had lived through the darkness that men are capable of in the name of religion. I have much more to fear from this fascist president and the swamp he drained into the White House and his blind minions in Congress that will sell our souls and environment to thugs and war criminals from around the world in the name of profit, than [I have to fear from] a bunch of terrorists. Terrorism has many colors, many names and methods.

Patricia Kaminsky Lewes

EDITOR’S NOTE: The U.S. Marine Corps was established in 1798. The first Barbary War was 1801-1805; the second Barbary War was in 1815. Other hostilities of the U.S.A. vs. the Barbary pirates, 1783-1796, ended by the Treaty of Tripoli, 1796-7, involved some “marines” under the aegis of the War Department, i.e., the Army, aboard naval ships.