I am writing in response to letters by Messrs. Coyne and Coats, both reacting to an April 2 article on local Muslim activity.

The saying: “ignorance is bliss,” is certainly repudiated by these men who instead of displaying the intoxication of fools , show us venomous bile directed not just at some harmless Muslims, but also our constitutional guarantees of freedom of religious expression.

Mr. Coats, a cheerleader for lynching, confuses the abhorrent African practice of clitoridectomy (the removal of the clitoris) with lobotomy (the excision of the brain’s frontal cortex). The mistake may be an honest one, if lobotomy is the last word you can remember going under anesthesia. Otherwise clitoridectomy is not an Islamic practice.

Clearly by modern standards, women in most of the Muslim world are not treated as equals of men, and in places, clearly subjugated. However, if memory serves, in this country we’ve had difficulty embracing the idea that all men are created equal, includes women.

Today we can point with pride to women important in our political life, business world, and even in combat. This did not occur overnight!

Mr. Coyne, are you as prepared to lump David Korish and the Branch Davidians, Methodists, and Angelicans together as you are to lump Islamic fundamentalist sects with mainstream secularized Islam as practiced in Turkey?

You’re well to point the finger at the Wahabi school systems, which seem to educate children to martial martyrdom. For this we can thank the tenants of Islam requiring that a good Muslim donate 3 to 4 percent of gross income to charity for the poor and helpless. The Saudi royal family has shown its charity by financing the Wahabi schools … but they’re our allies!

Do you get it? All religions have doctrines that are quite distinct from actual practice. During eight Crusades, and bloody European conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, it should be clear that dogmatic “true believers” from any faith, pose the real danger.

Tony Stettler

Oak Harbor