In response to "Religion can go to hell" by Ken Ilgunas (Dec. 7): I understand that you were most likely writing this article out of anger for those who have misused their faith in inappropriate judgment. However, I am truly upset that you have failed to address, or even consider the idea that you are brutally and rather offensively bashing something that many students on campus practice and follow with true devotion in their daily lives.
I don't disagree with your anger at those who have told you that you are going to hell, but, as you also fail to consider and mention, you are describing such a small portion of those who are included in the Christian faith. I, too, have been told I'm going to hell, and it's not pleasant. I'm in no way defending those who choose to use their "faith" so incorrectly. I'm angered by your article because it so blatantly ignores the good that comes from faith. What about the comfort and strength it provides to its believers? To families? To entire communities? The problem with judging religion by the so-called 'fanatics,' is just that. They are fanatics. They have taken the ideas of a faith base and have altered them to fit an extreme and sometimes harmful purpose. I choose to stand up for those who are discriminated against, judged and belittled because of those fanatics. Why? Because it happens all the time.
How often am I told that I'm an idiot for believing in God because some person can't get over a bad encounter they had with some religious fanatic on a judgment trip? More times than I care to remember. Do I falter from my faith because of it? No. Because in my heart, I know that those people are not what Jesus was about. It's just as ignorant and judgmental for you to call Christianity "brainwashing," and to ridicule someone who chose to carry her Bible with her because it helped her feel close to God, something very important to her. Maybe they didn't handle their encounters with someone without faith appropriately, but you, just as they did, have handled your encounters with those of faith just as disgracefully.
