William Bishop: Forcing president to use certain words distorts the message

Re “Obama leaves out word in description” (Letters, June 21): As a degreed linguist, let me explain Obama’s refusal to include the term “Islamic” in his lecture to The Donald and others. Our President could have used the word “terrorist,” still leaving out the descriptive. Extremist and terrorist are terms characterizing a class of militant anti-social activists. To add the sub-flavor Islamic or Christian merely restricts the topic unnecessarily.

To insist he use the term “Islamic terrorist” serves only to impose one’s own prejudice on the dialogue. I can assure you the Christian terrorist who murders physicians or fire-bombs abortion clinics feels just as smugly self-righteous as does an Islamist terrorist. Just as assuredly, neither follows the precepts of his self-avowed faith. The enemy of all peoples is fundamentalism. Fundamentalism feeds on the fears that arise from ignorance, distorts the teachings of religious faith which succors the ignorant, and serves only to justify the imposition of “our” brand of ignorance over all others, whatever the cost.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 11:01 AM with the headline "William Bishop: Forcing president to use certain words distorts the message."