Why do self-proclaimed Christians bomb Planned Parenthood, post hit lists on the internet, and murder doctors who perform abortions and their receptionists? Surely the actions of gun-totin' abortion opponents speak for Christians everywhere! Maybe for gun toters, too... d'you think?

Does Jerry Falwell speak for all Christians in matters of morals in politics? Does John Paul II even speak for all Catholics when the subject is birth control? The "major cleric speaks for the masses" approach has never been entirely accurate. The Presidency is not the only office that can be described as the Bully Pulpit.

Mr. Feder reports that 50% of the respondents to a poll about bin Laden taken among Indonesians consider him to be a freedom fighter. The key phrase here is "of the respondents". Those who respond are self-selected. They have something to say. I throw away a lot of polls. I refuse to answer others. Do we know anything about the methodology of the pollsters? Do they, for instance, use cudgels?

Are we now to make democracy the touchpoint of our foreign policy because Islamic nations have a record for authoritarian governments? How novel. Perhaps we will stop propping up the autocrats.

Nations with Christian majorities have behaved similarly in the not-so-distant past: inquisition, witch-burning, pogrom, exile, imprisonment for "sedition". Then we discovered the idea of the separation of church and state, and things improved, though they are still not perfect. (Democracy never gets anything perfect except dissatisfaction on all sides. This is why it works.)

Religion is used as a tool of government to dominate and control citizens' behavior in Islamic autocracies like Iraq, and plutocracies like Saudi Arabia. Think about that the next time some judge tries to post the Ten Commandments in a public courtroom.

Regards--
Mary Anne