Why there is so much global terrorism: The world has too many weapons

To the editor: Killing an individual for no apparent reason except religious ideology or mental instability is, in my book, terrorism. (“858 killed: Not a day in April passed without a terror attack,” June 25)

There are more than 7 billion people on the planet; greater than 300 million people live in the United States. Every day, there is a high number of people killed violently in this country. As far as I am concerned, that is as much terrorism as what you described as occurring in the rest of the world.

What makes it even more horrifying is that we are supposed to be a wealthy, civilized, law-abiding country. The reason violence occurs here is the same as for the rest of the world: There are too many weapons available.

David Novis, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: Thank you for the recital about this Earth’s inhabitants and the tally of our slaughter.

The world’s great religious faiths espouse peace. The prophet Muhammad crusaded for peace among the desert sheiks, and Jesus of Nazareth said, “My peace I give unto you.”

Somehow we don’t know how to listen or understand, and violence continues to extend its shattering glamor to the susceptible.

Jacqueline Kerr, Los Feliz

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To the editor: Certainly we don’t want to treat well-intentioned Muslims as potential terrorists. But to state that followers of Islam are not statistically more inclined toward violence in support of their religion is to ignore the obvious: The vast majority of world terrorism is rooted in the more extreme versions of Islam.

The Bible also has plenty of approved horrors, but at least modern Christians simply ignore the most embarrassing stuff.

When any religion states that those who don’t have fidelity to that religion should be targets of violence, then that religion must change or at least be “reinterpreted.” Better yet, followers of all supernatural religions should just stop believing in the unbelievable.

By the way, feel free to argue with us atheists. We won’t kill you for that.

Richard James, Marina del Rey

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To the editor: The article was very interesting and took a lot of work to put together.

The chart on the first page of deaths per day caught my eye. If you plotted the deaths per day by non-terrorist gunfire in the U.S., it would probably look very similar. The total deaths per month are about the same.

So why are we afraid of terrorists?

Richard Larsen, La Habra

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