Apparently, Parker believes that people do not have the right to be offended by offensive material. Although I am no advocate of Donohue or the Catholic League, I do firmly believe that all sane and civilized people – be they Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist, or otherwise – should be respectful of the beliefs and values cherished by others.

Richard Haling’s opinion “Fight Them in Iraq, Not Here.” (Dec.29) is an embarrassment to American pluralism. Haling’s article shows a disturbing confusion regarding the difference between Muslims and terrorists.

I am disappointed that the Chicago-Tribune chose to print Victor Hanson’s “Why the Rise of Radical Islam?” Hanson’s commentary is characterized by selective slicing of history and simplistic suggestions for solutions to the problem of a global rise in extremism.

It is hard to understand why there is a growing editorial tendency toward willful ignorance and Islamophobic extremism. It is growing at the expense of intellectual honesty and moral reason.

The title of Biswajeet Banerjee’s article, “Muslim clerics fighting new wave of ‘infidel’ polio,” initially leads readers to believe that he will delve into a discussion of the efforts to stop the serious outbreak in the Middle East of the viral disease known as polio.

The scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach us that the virtue of repentance-wholly different from self-loathing-is absolutely central to the moral life.

Dennis Byrne’s assessment of the National Intelligence Estimate in his article, “Terror-report fight misses the big picture” (October 2, 2006), seeks to distort reality in an effort to maintain a failed policy.

Carol Turoff’s tirade in the Conservative Voice, “Reflections on Ramadan: The Pope Must Die” (September 28th, 2006), is so severely devoid of intellectual integrity that it does not merit a formal response.
However, the piece is worth analyzing as a case study of the machinations typically employed in America’s thriving Islamophobic industry.

Ok, so I have witnessed the impudent display of reductionism otherwise known as a Jack Higgins cartoon, last Wednesday. I have seen his characterization of the Prophet Muhammad as a sword-wielding, raging lunatic with a mountain of skulls at his trail. I have noted his insinuation that Islam itself inspires the violence we see on our TV screens – as opposed to, say, ignorance, poverty, repression, or radicalization.

While renowned bridge-builder, Dr. Maher Hathout, has been a leading advocate for tolerance and pluralism both in the United States and the Muslim-majority world, Steven Emerson has made a name for himself in the ignoble but profitable trade of rabble-rousing and hatemongering against anybody who is a somebody in Muslim leadership.