Don't paint religions with same brush

Last night during the Democratic Debate the moderator asked each participant if they referred to the Paris incident perpetrators as 'Islamic extremists'. None of the candidates took the bait.

Hardly a day goes by when the president isn't criticized for referring to these perpetrators as solely Extremists by one myopic source or another. I suspect that what ISIS is doing in the name of Islam bears as much relation to the religious tenants as the man-in-the-moon does.

But yet, what do you call the perpetrators that burn black churches? Or ambush people leaving Sikh temples? Or deface Synagogues with swastikas? Or bomb abortion clinics? Or blow up federal buildings killing dozens of children in Oklahoma? Or murder physicians that perform abortions? Are these not Radical Christian Extremists and why do you not denigrate those who fail to refer to these people as such? Is this what Jesus taught his followers? Other than the targets of the violence what is the difference between these two groups?

Have we ever referred to a group who set fire to a Palestinian home killing the occupants, young and old as Radical Jewish Extremists? No, they are always just rightwing extremists.

And we should not forget the Founding Fathers who constutionally established an entire race as being worth only two thirds as relevant as they themselves. Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy about being established as a 'Christian Nation' doesn't it?

It is never wise or appropriate to paint an entire race or religion with the same paint brush, particularly when you immunize the group that you happen to belong to as being above that labeling for similar acts. I believe that extremists are extremists period who have simply bastardized the teachings of their particular belief system to fit their own desires and needs.

James Prescott

Schaumburg