Dear editor:
President Obama had barely completed his statement on ISIS when Republican politicians and Conservative strategists attacked his remarks, condemning him for discounting the reality of Islamic terrorism. These people seem motivated with contempt for anything President Obama says by impulsively and thoughtlessly "tweeting" their condemnations before carefully grasping the truth of what he, in fact, said. It is unfortunate that there is so much misunderstanding of the president's statement, "we are not at war with Islam, we are at war with the people who perverted Islam." He was separating the good Muslims, who follow their religion, from the terrorists, who have no religion. Religion, all religions are a journey to God.
Terrorists distort, falsify and abuse religion for their own purpose and objectives. The results are: murders, beheadings, burnings and rape, all atrocious, abominable deeds. If you think it's devout Islamists or religious Muslims that beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians and burned alive a Jordanian Muslim in a cage, think again, because those atrocities were executed by evil murderers and worse yet they do it in what they call "the name of God."
Do you really believe religious Islamists smashed into the World Trade Center? Think again, they were not religious Islamists, call them what they, in fact, are; evil, fanatic, godless, immoral and depraved men following orders like emotionless robots eager to blow up airplanes, killing some 3,000 innocent human beings. Only irrational, demented people could conceivably carry out what they call religious acts which lead to the destruction of other human beings. Again, President Obama is unquestionably right -- "religion is not responsible for terrorism -- people are."
George Lindholm
Hot Springs
Editorial on 02/25/2015