TO THE EDITOR:
On Monday, a comment from an online article regarding the wearing of the hijab by Muslim women was published in the DTH.
The comment that was printed said that “Islam has ruined” various countries, a statement that is inaccurate.
After looking at the online article, published on Thursday, I saw more of the comments this person made. They called Muslims a “diabolical cult” and made sweeping generalizations regarding the violent nature of Islam, based on out-of-context Qur’anic verses.
However, the Qur’an is not the only religious text to feature verses of violence; the Bible, which is the Christian religious book, features them as well.
For example, Exodus 21:17 claims anyone who dishonors their father or mother must be put to death, and Hosea 13:16 discusses the supposedly righteous murder of infants in the womb.
Religious texts, both the Qur’an and the Bible, must be recognized as centuries-old books that were written in a much different social and religious time period.
UNC has a strong Muslim student group, and printing comments like this is offensive. The commenter claiming that the Islamic religion is wholly violent and unethical, and the printing of a comment from them, someone who has no knowledge of the many Islamic men and women who live ordinary, nonviolent lives, does not promote the tolerance and diversity that we strive to attain at UNC.
Rachel Woods ’16
Religious studies
