To the editor:

I expected other people better informed than I to respond to George Gurley’s recent unfortunate column. In the length permitted for a letter to the editor, I can only touch on a few points.

Gurley says that someday “Muslims” outnumber “Europeans.” Bosnians, Albanians and Kazakhs would be startled to learn that they are not Europeans.

Apparently Gurley is making the error of equating Muslims with Arabs – not true. However, if people of Arab descent lived in Europe for generations, would they not also be Europeans?

He fears that we may need to convert to Islam to “save our necks.”

No one can deny that there are violent and dangerous people who call themselves Muslims, just as there are Christians, Jews and Hindus who violate the tenets of their faith. However, none of the attacks have had anything to do with an attempt to force conversion. The Koran forbids forced conversion, and Muslims in power have a far better record of respect for other faiths than Christians have.

As a Christian, I admit I would regret losing St. Peter’s in Rome to a muezzin. However, I can’t see what difference it makes to Mr. Gurley, who isn’t even sure that the Creator (his “playwright”) is even concerned about his creation.

If Gurley is to continue to write for the Journal-World, he needs to avoid beginning his comment with “I read somewhere” and then ramble on in continued ignorance.

Ann Haehl,

Lawrence