Dear Editor,
I would like to make a reference to David Roberts' column "Hell is real and nothing to joke about." I wonder how he can back up his claim that "Faith in Mohammed won't get you into heaven. Faith in Buddha won't get you into heaven."
I would like to point out that the column in question was a pretty good one and I was thoroughly engrossed in it, until, of course, I reached the above-quoted sentences. To be frank, this part was extremely offensive.
Ethically, no one, I repeat, no one can condemn another belief or religion. What the writer had suggested quite clearly is that everyone who's not a Christian goes to Hell.
What makes him think that everyone else is wrong in their beliefs? Speaking from a Muslim's point of view, we have been told that God sent prophets to every corner of the world, and while some have been mentioned in the holy book, others have not. And just because they haven't been mentioned, doesn't mean that they're not prophets.
Clearly Roberts was not aware of this fact, and also did not know that Muslims all over the world believe not just in the prophet Mohammed, but also in all the other prophets that came before him. And that includes everyone down from Abraham to himself.
One piece of advice to David Roberts — pick on people with beliefs similar to your own, so that you may know what they do wrong. But please, do not make light of the beliefs of others, or make them sound erroneous. Nobody has any right to point a finger at another and say he's wrong, especially if he has nothing to back up his claims with.
Khadija Ejaz
computer science freshman