Dirk Vertigan - "Stop Defending Religion" - Published in The Reveille, the student newspaper at Louisiana State University

In the wake of last week's tragedies, many have made the very important point that no innocent person should be judged by the actions of other members of their group. I agree completely that innocent Muslims are innocent. That's a very easy concept to grasp, and I don't need to expand further.

But I completely disagree with people who say that Islam is not to blame. Blaming religion is not the same as blaming all followers of that religion: another very easy concept to grasp. It's time for people to be honest about the true nature of religions. People should not go into denial and refuse to accept that their religion truly causes evil.

Islam has a long history of abhorrent atrocities. Christianity and many other religions are just as bad. The holocaust was a direct consequence of Hitler's Christian faith and a long-standing Christian tradition of anti-Semitism. The slave trade in this country was based on the long-standing Christian tradition that non-Christians had no rights of any kind, and that Christians could do with them as they pleased.

Religious texts may say `Don't kill', but they also say `Do kill'. True
believers can do whatever they want. The only way to know if someone is a true believer is to ask them. It's dishonest to say someone is not a true believer just because their actions make your religion look bad. The terrorist organization responsible for last week is passionately devoted to Islam.

But what Islamic fundamentalists did last week is nothing compared to what Christian fundamentalists are trying to do to this country.

They seek to destroy science, democracy, education, morality, freedom and justice, and to replace them all with religious fundamentalism.

Tolerance and understanding are essential. But Christianity and Islam would not have attained their billion-plus followings if they had truly endorsed these ideals. Most people are good, regardless of their religion, if any. But this in no way implies that religion is good.

You can condemn a person's religion without condemning that person in any way, yet another very easy concept to grasp. Those who say otherwise are simply trying to stifle the free speech of those who characterize religion honestly.

Religion causes problems, but never solves them, and it's time to stop sugarcoating religion, and to say it how it is. When I saw last Tuesday's events I saw religion, but I did not see peace.

Dirk Vertigan
Associate Professor Mathematics

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