Derision is un-American

I consider myself fortunate to count Devon Glover (“My Veil Elicits Stares, Slurs”, guest opinion, Oct 24) among my friends. We have studied together at Spokane Community College and at Eastern Washington University, and we’ve chatted outside of class about everything from aquarium fish to breast cancer. Devon is, to put it simply, a genuinely good person. That anyone would feel entitled to judge or berate her based on what she chooses to wear as an expression of her faith is absurd.

Insulting someone because they wear a cross, or a yarmulke or a headscarf, or because they choose to wear none of these things, is an action that displays not loyalty to an ideal or a faith but a rush to judgment amid ignorance. Just as columnist Steve Massey reminds us that the Westboro Baptist Church is not representative of all Christians, we would do well to remember that the terrorists who commit horrid, repugnant acts in the name of their religion are not representative of all Muslims, either.

I am not a Muslim, but I am an American, and I stand beside my friend against the prejudice that would judge, marginalize or harm anyone outside the mainstream.

Lesli Weber

Spokane