To stop radical Islam, stop intolerance of Muslims

Like many Americans, Ann Mix (letters, June 23) is concerned about radical Islam. Her letter focuses on external features of the radicals — what they wear, what mosques they attend — and suggests that we should ban traditional Muslim clothing and shut down any mosque that promotes these ideas.

I have to wonder — why is Mix looking for the source of radical Islam’s message, rather than asking the more important question: why is that message so enticing to the people who embrace it? I think the biggest problem is not that the message exists. The bigger problem is that some people listen to and embrace the messages spread by small-minded, angry people.

Trying to silence the message of radical Islam is impossible — in the age of the internet, there is no way to get the message of small-minded angry people to disappear. So why is it that people find this message of hate so attractive? Part of it is because they see hate modeled by mainstream Americans.

I would suggest that the message of anger, intolerance, violence, and flawed self-righteousness is found not only in Islam, but in American politics — specifically in the campaign of Donald Trump. If we want others to ignore messages of hate, perhaps we should set a better example by not listening to these voices ourselves.

I didn’t worry about whether or not America was “great” until I saw the Trump signs popping up around town. I do think we can make America and the world around her better, but to do so, we must set an example. We must reject the small-minded, angry, hateful voices that we hear from our own politicians.

Steve Close

Moses Lake