1/23/03, Letter to the Editor, printed in the New York Newsday

Dear Editor:

Christopher Bassford, in his "We're at War and It's World War IV" [Viewpoints, Jan. 14], expresses the clairvoyance and insight many of our political leaders could use. He forecasts Islam becoming "the religion of peace the apologists of terror now proclaim it to be." Bassford also recalls the stained past of Christianity and the "murderous conflicts between Catholicism and Protestantism." In fact, the Thirty Years War and the 100 Years War were even more devastating than World War II. Adolf Hitler, in his "Final Solution," noted the crucifixion of Jesus in rallying the Nazis for the Holocaust. The Spanish Inquisition called for the expulsion of Jews and Muslims alike by the Catholic Church. The Crusades were filled with single battles in thousands were slaughtered. Thus, even though carnage fills the annals of Christian history, there are few like Bassford who would elucidate on this.

Sincerely,

Irfan Alladin
Bound Brook, New Jersey