Marshall just as dogmatic in Islam rant

American approval ratings in the world are the lowest they have been in decades.

I've been at Duke for four semesters now and believe me, most Americans are great people. Unfortunately, it is the ignorant bigotry of a few like Jeremy Marshall that give this great country a bad name ("Time to challenge dogma," April 6).

To make sweeping generalizations is a dangerous practice at any time but especially if it means filtering the views of 2 billion people down to the views of an extremist minority. Must we turn to Webster for the definition of extremist MINORITY?

There is always a place for disagreement and discussion on a university campus, but there should be little tolerance on a campus, and indeed in this world, for ill-researched rants that do little more than fan the flames of hatred. While the citation of the Qur'an is a seemingly impressive piece of evidence, even a slightly critical eye is enough to notice that the citations are self-serving and woefully out of context. I wonder, which anti-Islamic website did he retrieve them from?

Had he taken the time to read his "damning" citations in context, he would have realized that the Qur'an advocates amity towards all but one's oppressors (2:193), equity for women & men (4:19) and peace whenever possible (8:61).

I grew up in the United Arab Emirates and frankly, I have yet to see the abuses he claims "Islam perpetuates against Middle Easterners." You will forgive me if I choose not to play the damsel in distress to Marshall's liberating hero. The "hopes of moderate middle-easterners" do not rest on the outcome of the War on Terror but rather, on this world's willingness to embrace diversity and to look beyond individual differences.

More so than challenging cruel, capricious, religious dogma we need to challenge ignorant, hateful bigotry. Only in this way will we propagate the ideals that America so proudly stands for.

Hasnain Zaidi