To the editor:

Mr. Elbayoumy is absolutely right that “Targeting any group of citizens based simply on their religion is a violation of the basic rights upon which our society was built.” (Public Forum, Saturday)

The term “Islamists” that we used in our previous letter derives from the well-defined name of a monistic political ideology — Islamism, widely used in professional literature, similar to such terms as Communism and Fascism. In his letter, Mr. Elbayoumy himself rightly distinguishes between “Islamists,” followers of a specific political ideology, and Muslims, members of the Muhammadan religion. We refrained from using the popular term “terrorists” because it is this very term that is “poorly defined.” One’s terrorists are another person’s freedom fighters. In no way were we suggesting profiling Muslims. Islamism, however, as an ideocratic movement is a real and present danger to all democratic societies.

We understand Mr. Elbayoumy’s and perhaps other Lawrence Muslims’ sensitivity on this issue, and appreciate his response to our letter as it provided us with the opportunity to clarify the matter.

Maura and Jarek Piekalkiewicz,

Lawrence