MRFF's Inbox

Reader responds to Salinas Journal article

December 21, 2008

Dear Ms. Ariel,

I read with pain, your article in today's Salina.com "All of us are Athiests" I was shocked that such a fear- and hate-mongering editorial should still see print in media that are generally seen as upstanding representatives of humanity, of unbiased news and of that elusive thing called "journalism". I wondered what would cause you to have such a hostile, irrational and hate-filled attitude towards Islam and Muslims and I am most curious to know what evils you know about Islam or Muslims, that you have not come across among other people and other faiths?

I was also most curious to understand why you would have selected Islam as the topic to attack, could it be that you thought being truthful about Islam might undermine your "article"?

I am not challenging your oft-touted "Freedom of Speech", which is a fig-leaf I have seen so many people hide behind when they are bashing Islam or Muslims and Arabs; these same people are never to be seen taking the same bashes at other faiths and people of other faiths or races.
I am challenging your right to be wrong at a public forum; I am challenging your "facts" or what you would like people to believe of Islam and Muslims, in order that your own goals of spreading hate and fear of Muslims and Islam, are promoted.

Except for repeating "quotes" from other bigots, I would like YOU to tell me where in the Quran exactly, did you see any reference of "72 virgins" promised to ANY Muslims, let alone those who murder others?
I would like YOU to tell me where in the Quran, are there ANY references to "virgins" being promised even to the righteous?

If you cannot find such a reference, then I would like to understand why you would promote such a hate-producing piece of misinformation without having done the due-diligence that any "journalist" of any measure should do, especially if s-he is about to publish a defamatory "article".

What is it that you have found so attractive in your so-called "Judeo-Christian belief", that you have failed to find in the Quran which is derived from the same scriptures? I doubt if you have ever cast your eyes upon an open Quran, it would have been an inconsequential obstacle to your hate towards Islam.

I am sure you are aware that the "Christian" part of your "Judeo-Christian xx" seeks the conversion or destruction of ALL Jews just prior to Judgment Day.

I wonder if you could illuminate us on why Muslims in Afghanistan should not resent an occupying power thrusting their faith on them? or, why rational people like Mikey Weinstein should not perceive the proselytizing by Christians in Afghanistan might add to the hostilities against US Forces and their allies?

Have you ever taken the time to read the MANY Hindu riots in which Hindus have raped, burned and killed Christian missionaries in India, because the missionaries were preaching Christianity to Hindus and converting them?

Are you familiar with the uproar caused among Jews in this country when prominent Christian leaders have said they would like to see Jews convert to Christianity?

Finally Ms. Ariel, how can you talk about "Caring-for-all-people" on one hand and cause people to hate and fear Islam and Muslims with your writing on the other?

I look forward to being fascinated by any response you may care to send my way,

Jeff Siddiqui
American Muslims of Puget Sound

Solve the problem yourself or accept a fate you may not like...from this perspective, the ethic of personal responsibility gains appeal

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Salina Journal apology

December 26, 2008

We need to apologize.

In trying to foster understanding about atheism, we instead offended many
Have you ever tried to do one thing, and in the process done the exact opposite of what you were trying to do?

That’s what we did when we tried to foster understanding for a certain atheist soldier, or any atheists, for that matter, in an editorial that ran in last Sunday’s edition of the Journal titled “All of us are atheists.”
We went about it precisely the wrong way.

We’re sorry to acknowledge, also, that, even though the editorial went past at least three editors, none caught the blatant error in the piece.
And we haven’t, as yet, received letters or 333 calls noting our error, which is, perhaps, a reflection of how ingrained this misconception has become in our psyches.

Thankfully, we did hear from one of the people mentioned in the editorial, Mikey Weinstein, of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and Jeff Siddiqui, of American Muslims of Puget Sound, and they made clear our error, which we fully understood as soon as it was pointed out to us.

Our bringing up “the teachings of Islam” and in the next sentence mentioning “72 virgins” and an eternity of “celestial delights” for suicide bombers, as if those ARE the teachings of Islam, was horrific. It was something along the order of saying all Christians are like, oh, let’s say Jim Jones, who in 1978 led his followers to drink poison-laced Kool-Aid in a mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Or picking any one of the disgraced pastors or pedophile priests in the news, and throwing all Christians into that heap, as if that’s how all
Christians are.

It was a terrible slander, a thoughtless insult, and we are genuinely sorry for it.
Lumping the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims of the world into the relatively tiny heap of the fringe minority terrorists was ridiculous. And perpetuating the myth about the “72 virgins,” as though it comes from a scripture found in the Koran, was irresponsible.

We meant to foster understanding between people of differing beliefs, but in the process we perpetuated a terrible stereotype, promoting fear and hatred toward over a billion people on Earth.

The Journal regrets the error.
— Roshana Ariel
Assistant Editor