In response to Meredith Walker’s Sept. 26 letter to the editor, “Islam: a not so peaceful religion.”
As an alumnus of ASU, I often visit The State Press website to catch up on the current issues. Over the last few days, I’ve watched the drama unfold over Ms. Walker’s article “Islam: a not so peaceful religion.” Reading the comments left on the letter and then seeing the Editorial Board’s response to it, I was struck by the fact that, ironically, you have all simply proven Ms. Walker’s point completely.
Whether I agree with Ms. Walker’s assessment is inconsequential. However, Christianity, and my own Catholic faith, have been ridiculed and insulted by letters to the editor at the The State Press in the past. Never was there such a reaction to one of those letters. Ms. Walker was called a racist and accused of spreading hate speech for saying that followers of Islam can’t stand to be criticized. What happened? Followers of Islam showed that they could not stand to be criticized.
And The State Press themselves proved her point that people are too willing to let the anger of Islamic people dictate the way we discuss their religion.
Your reactions were all very dramatic and, ultimately, only proved that Ms. Walker’s assessment was, at least in part, right. The reaction to her criticism was completely disproportionate to the criticism itself.
Anna Martinez
ASU Alumnus
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Read our Editorial Board's letter here. Read a collection of responses to Meredith Walker's Sept. 26 letter here.
