LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 9:36 am

What ever happened to “the land of the free and the home of the brave”? Americans seem to be running around “scared” these days. Where is our courage and bravery? We’ve had our time of mourning for 9/11. Let’s get over it and move on in courage. It’s not Okay to be perpetually scared. That’s what Bin Laden wanted. He wanted to terrorize us, and he apparently got his way.

Unfortunately, Bin Laden isn’t the only one terrorizing us. Some of our fellow Americans are shamelessly fearmongering for profit, and their followers are acting out irrationally. But there is a remedy: Ancient wisdom tells us that “perfect love casts out fear.” To overcome our irrational fears, we simply develop the skill of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

This includes our Muslim neighbors. In this “land of the free” we have a constitutional freedom of religion. This freedom applies to Islam as well as Christianity, Judaism, etc. We were never attacked by Islam. We were attacked by a fringe group of fundamentalist criminals.

Islam is no less peaceful than Christianity. Let the Muslims build their Islamic centers in Manhattan and Murfreesboro, or wherever they want to. If we would allow Christian churches on those sites, there is no reason to disallow Islamic centers.

I’ve heard the vicious, anti-Islamic lies of some fearmongers. Having examined their claims, and having researched the facts, I am convinced that we have no more to fear from Islam than from Christianity. Let’s not succumb to fear. Instead, let’s love our neighbors as ourselves. Only when our love casts out all fear can we honestly sing about the land of the free and the home of the brave.
 
Kyle Williams
Woodbury, TN