Diana Cundy’s letter (Oct. 8) took columnist Cal Thomas to task for equating Islam with terrorism. Central to the rebuttal was the notion that “each of the major monotheistic religions of the world has its share of extremists.” To make her case, Cundy pointed out Timothy McVeigh, “a white ‘Christian'” and to notice the existence of “plenty” of allegedly Christian “violent, white supremacist hate sites.”

McVeigh was an agnostic who boasted that “science is my religion.” As such, he adds nothing to Christianity’s supposed “share” of extremists. White supremacists have no right to the name “Christian.” They violate both letter and spirit of the New Testament and dishonor Christ’s character.

Devout Christians regularly encounter biblical incitements to pacifism in the face of persecution; devout Muslims regularly encounter Koranic incitements to violent jihad. A zealous Christian who bombs abortion clinics breaks faith with the New Testament and its self-sacrificing lord. A zealous Muslim who bombs marketplaces keeps faith with the Koran’s central command and its warrior-prophet, Mohammed.

We won’t secure for Islamic immigrants a place in our country’s cherished tradition of religious pluralism by pretending jihadists are merely Islam’s version of our misguided skinheads. What might help is a new period of ijtihad, (open inquiry) to reinterpret the Koran.

Violent Bible students gathered for a world convention could meet in a high school locker room. Violent Koran students mass in numbers that threaten national governments.

Thomas raises concerns too serious to sacrifice to misleading, naive notions of political correctness.

Leonard Hoy, Greenwood