I was intrigued by Jonathan Tulloch’s article “I was a teenage fundamentalist” (The Tablet, 7 March). I was agreeing with him until he stated that “Christianity is perhaps even more given to holy war” [than Islam] and citing the Crusades as the prime example. He further added: “Jihad-holy war has nothing to do with God and everything to do with people and their political situations." The writer is doing what many do, i.e., placing Christianity and Islam on the same level and implying that both or all religions contain fundamentalism, violence and wars. To me, such thinking is both superficial and wrong.
There is nothing in the New Testament that commands violence towards others, whereas the Qu'ran contains over 100 verses ordering the slaughter of non-Muslims (sometimes mentioning Jews and Christians by name) if they do not convert. It is precisely these scriptural injunctions, plus the example of their warrior-prophet, that drive the jihadists to such savage acts of murder, not to speak of other verses promising a sensual paradise.
By contrast, the heart of Christianity is based on love, compassion and forgiveness of others, even enemies. The writer himself implies this when he says: "I never once experienced anything but kindness and gentleness." Contrast this “fundamentalism” with what goes on inside the Jihadist camps.
Dr Joseph Seferta, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
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