IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT A PRIVATE CITIZEN COULD WRITE SUCH A
MISINFORMED LETTER, BUT IT IS TRULY SURPRISING-- SHOCKING, ACTUALLY --
THAT A MAJOR NEWSPAPER LIKE THE SEATTLE TIMES WOULD PRINT IT WITHOUT
CORRECTION.
Letter to the Editor, Seattle Times:
I applaud President Obama for supporting the rights of Muslims to
build a mosque near Ground Zero [“Obama backs mosque complex for site
near Ground Zero,” news, Aug. 14].
Americans who oppose this project make me ashamed. Because the
Oklahoma City bombings were perpetrated by fundamentalist Christians,
does Oklahoma City deprive Christians of the right to build churches
near its national memorial? Of course not!
When are we in this country going to begin to realize that rights are not only about us, but about others as well?
— Jim Ward, Seattle
McVEIGH'S REAL RELIGIOUS VIEWS:
McVeigh once said that he believed the universe was guided by natural
law, energized by some universal higher power that showed each person
right from wrong if they paid attention to what was going on inside
them. He had also said, "Science is my religion." (Michel, Lou and Herbeck, Dan. American Terrorist. pp. 142–143.)
McVeigh said he was an agnostic but that he would "improvise, adapt and
overcome", if it turned out there was an afterlife. "If I'm going to
hell," he wrote, "I'm gonna have a lot of company." (The Guardian)