Religion twists minds toward war

I read Darius Assemi’s piece (Jan. 24) with great interest and appreciation. It is good that moderate Muslims step forward to condemn the radical elements of the faith, and to educate their fellow (non-Muslim) citizens about their religion.

However, I cannot help but notice that his argument boils down to, “The militants are wrong in their interpretation of Islam.” I would suggest that what is important isn’t which side of the debate is correct, but that there is a debate at all. It should alarm any moderate Muslim that the Quran they use to proclaim their religion as a religion of peace is the same scripture used by their fellow Muslims to declare war and violence as the duties of the faithful.

This isn’t about which side is correct in the Muslim world. It’s about how religion twists the minds of men to the place that they view killing babies and kidnapping young women as sex slaves to be acts of righteousness in service of Allah.

Religion is still the best way to get otherwise good people to commit unspeakable acts of cruelty.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 7:06 AM with the headline "Religion twists minds toward war."