Judy Snyder's letter “Religion of peace?” cites passages from the Quran as evidence of the inherent violence of Islam. She neglected the following quips from the Bible.
Psalm 137:9 proclaims, “Blessed the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock.”
In Hosea 14:1, God pronounces that the infants of Israel's enemies “shall be dashed to pieces, their pregnant women shall be ripped open.”
In Matthew 10:34, Jesus states, “I have come to bring not peace but the sword,” and in Luke 12:49-51, the “Prince of Peace” declares, “I have come to set the Earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! I have come not to establish peace on Earth but rather division.”
Throughout history, preachers, politicians and military leaders have perversely used biblical texts, taken out of context, to justify genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism, sexism and war. Before passing judgment on Islam, we should reflect on the words of Pope Francis, who reminds us ( Evangelii Gaudium : 253): “Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.”
Keith G. Kondrich
Swisshelm Park
