By Dr. T. DOUGLAS REILLYLos Alamos
I am appalled with all I read about Radical Islam, calls to intern US Muslims, and calls to bar further Muslim immigrants.
Now I hear Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will be National Security Advisor (a post not requiring Congressional approval). Flynn has tweeted and said, “it is not irrational to fear Muslims and their religion.”
Fear of Islam, like many of our fears, is born from ignorance; few US citizens know Muslims or know much about the Islamic Faith. It is somewhat normal to fear the unknown.
During 38 years associated with LANL, I spent almost 33 of them working with the IAEA. Over three of those were also spent with EURATOM, the EU’s equivalent of the IAEA and our NRC. I’ve worked with several hundred Muslims from all major Islamic nations from Indonesia to Morocco. I’ve read the Qur’an.
They are like me; they want to live in peace, educate their children, earn a decent living, and help neighbors and strangers whether Muslim or not. Muslims, Jews and Christians are all Peoples of the Book.
There are many folks in Los Alamos with similar experiences and understanding; we should speak up against the rhetoric we now hear almost daily.
