I hope that this will be the last column I dedicate to this extremely important, yet badly handled debate on “terrorist Islam.”

I don’t understand why some conservatives, when faced with a challenge in argument, retreat to name-calling and deem the argument to be a “liberal sound bite.”

Yes, Chuck, I am still extremely “bitter” at your not-so-logical argument of profiling a particular group of people on the basis of religion. Such a policy is not only ridiculous in that it alludes that Muslim men should look a certain way or carry some kind of identification, but it is also a violation of rights to privacy as well as equality and liberty.

In his Sept. 1 column, Prochaska stated that he is probably not “religionist” because he said nothing about himself, “as a white man, being superior to Muslims.” Just for your information, Muslims are white too. Shall we exclude white Muslims then when we profile them at airports?

Contrary to what some believe, the majority of Muslims are embarrassed by the extremism that has hijacked their religion. Basically, Islam condemns any person who is fanatical, or extremist. Islam insists on moderation and tolerance towards one another and especially toward non-Muslims. (The Holy Quran, [2:143] and [22:40])

Muslim leaders all over the world have attempted to speak out and condemn terrorism and extremism, especially after Sept. 11. In fact, to take one example, the conservative Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said, “Hijacking planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood constitute a form of injustice that cannot be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts.”

Let me also point out why more Muslims who are good tax-paying citizens of this country do not speak out against extremism. Most of them choose not to be involved in politics and vocalize their concerns because they are afraid of being named as activists and losing their jobs. They are afraid of being judged, scared of losing things that are important to them by virtue of being affiliated with a religion that has been dragged to the ground by fanatics. That doesn’t mean they don’t feel badly about the phrase “Islamic terrorism.”

Prochaska talks of his fear of safety. Muslims live with a different kind of fear every single day. They are always scared that people will think of them as terrorists. They bear the burden of representing their religion correctly.

I assure you, Chuck, you are not alone in worrying about your mother’s safe return. I don’t know a single American who isn’t afraid. Sept. 11 taught us that no corner in the world is a safe haven anymore. And yes, we need to be on guard to prevent further attacks. But profiling is not the right answer. I am not suggesting that we “live in fear instead of providing ourselves with peace of mind.” But if the only way we can get peace of mind is to exclude a very large group of people from mainstream America and subject them to suspect and humiliation, then that peace of mind is not worth it.

We shouldn’t be naive about terrorism, but lets not be naive about Constitutional rights, either. As Americans, how dare we decide to subject a segment of our population to further discrimination? As the world progresses on civil rights, why is the most powerful country in the world regressing? Why are we attempting to alienate homosexuals by banning them the right to marriage, women by barring them the right to abortion, and Muslims by subjecting them to discriminatory measures such as profiling?

People like Prochaska need to move beyond this ignorant mentality and help our country fight terrorists – the deviants and sans religion. This has nothing to do with liberals or conservatives. This has everything to do with human rights, which, as Malcolm X said, are by all means necessary.