LETTER: The Compassion of All Religions

To the editors:

I have the distinct privilege to be a part of a blocking group that is comprised of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim members. Dinner conversations are remarkable, and although we believe we have different paths to salvation, we all love to make other people smile.

All of these friends are compassionate individuals and some of the most phenomenal human beings I have ever encountered in my life. Given my experience, I feel compelled to write this letter in response to Avishai D. Don's Oct. 21 column, "God Soup".

While I find it commendable that this young man endeavors to prove his faith the most compassionate, I find many faults with his argument. In particular, in an attempt to prove his point, Don puts forth a radically weak and untrue argument that is a cheap attack on the Islamic faith.

To base the claim that Islam is not compassionate on the acts of a few individuals is to claim that Judaism and Christianity have been pure throughout the centuries without any misguided followers.

As a Christian, I am quick to acknowledge the Christian terrorist sects of the Klu Klux Klan that have strayed extraordinarily far from fundamental Christian principles. Does this make the teachings of Jesus null and void? Of course not, because people can be religious only in name and not by practice.

Is Judaism not a compassionate religion because Jewish terrorists assassinated Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden, a nobleman noted for his negotiation of the release of about 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II as he sought to bring peace to the Middle East? Of course not. I know a preponderance of Jewish people who would never hurt a fly.

So while Mr. Don goes on discrediting the Muslim faith, I will strive to be half the man that my Muslim friend is—at the time of writing, I am enjoying a night off while he is tutoring immigrants to pass their United States citizenship test.

Let us stop illogical generalizations in a place that cherishes "veritas."

Richard MJ Maopolski ’13

Cambridge, Mass.

Oct. 21, 2010

Richard MJ Maopolski '13 is a sophomore in Currier House.