On Friday, December 4, Asma Uddin, attorney for the Becket Fund, typically misrepresented the constitutional principle of "separation between Religion and Government," James Madison, W&MQ 3:555. In the USA, religion actions are not above the laws of the land; that is, the free exercise clause is not a license for anarchy, as the Supreme Court confirmed long ago, in Reynolds v. U.S.

In my recent book The Religion Commandments in the Constitution, I thoroughly rebut the position of the Becket Fund and the "Religious Right" and expound upon the distinction between "prohibiting" and "abridging," as deliberately made in the First Amendment regarding the exercise of religion.

The foundation of our national principles are specifically worded in the Constitution and written by men who understood the words they wrote:

No "religious" test shall ever be required, no law shall be made even respecting an establishment of "religion," and the voluntary exercise of "religion" shall not be prohibited, which means totally forbidden, in distinction from the meaning of "abridging," that is, reducing, which applies to speech, press, peaceable assembly, and petition.

It is the words of the Constitution which are the supreme law of the land and have legal standing in court, not the words of Islam, Christianity, or the Becket Fund.

In Judaism, neither the deity nor human can forgive someone for something s/he has done to another. So, although Ms. Scherr may forgive the terrorists for the grief they caused her in their slaughter of her husband and daughter, only they can forgive the terrorists for what they did to them.

Murder is exceptional.

I think of all the innocent dead. I think of the special instructions the Islamist murderers had to torture to death twenty-nine-year-old Gavriel HOltzberg and his beautiful, adored Rivke, twenty-eight and FIVE MONTHS pregnant. I think of their baby boy who watched the slaughter of his parents and their visitors. I think of him brought out of that hell hole covered in his mother's blood, carried out by his heroic nanny, who is a hero in our community.

Not to her though. She says, "I could not save my rabbi."

The Holtzbergs were a beloved presence in Mumbai. Hindu newspapers on the web mention them, I suppose because they were targeted for the horrible death they suffered, because they were butchered so unimaginably, because their young son was forced to witness this.

I wish for peace for all those who lost people precious to them in that wholesale slaughter.

I wonder, if Pakistan had surrendered Dawood Ibrahim to India, would this have happened? Musharraf agreed to it, and the US promised. It's interesting to read the Indian diplomat's notes on what followed. Politely, he stated as best he could, that he had entered a twilight zone of evasion. And so Mr. Ibrahim lives on.

While so many of all faiths do not.

Bless the people of Mumbai for their courage and strength. May all good things be with you.

ArunPatel and AynRand,

Its easy to imagine that emotions would be running high on the first anniversary of those terrible attacks in Mumbai. But I find that you are deliberately using this tragedy to malign Pakistan and muslims which I am afraid is a favorite pastime of most American Hindus on these blogs.

I would like to ask you if you ever had the same feelings when the anniversary of the Gujrat Massacare came and went? Do you ever think about those thousands of women raped by Hindu fundamentalists on the orders of their extremist Hindu Leader Narendar Modi. More than 2000 muslims were butchered in a massacre that went on for days without anyone interefering, by your fellow Hindus. Most of these people were burned in public with the Police watching and doing nothing to protect these muslims. There's a video on youtube where a Hindu Extremist leader proudly detailed how he ripped open the belly of a pregnant muslim woman took out the baby inside it and raised it on the sword. People just need to type Gujarat Massacre and see it for thmeselves. Was any of those perpetrators ever caught? Instead you elected Narendar Modi by a landslide in your next elections. whys that? How is he different from Hafiz Saeed? The fact is you yourself do not have the wherewithal to take on your extremists. You are more afraid of your extremists then we are. Atleast we never elect them as Chief Ministers or Prime Ministers.

Its pretty pathetic for a few bloggers like you to display your small mindedness on an attack that every Pakistani whole heartedly condemns. We ourselves are the biggest victims of these terrorists. And we are actually fighting a war against them losing more of our brave soldiers than we ever lost in any of our wars with India. So please growup and start channeling your energies to stop hatred from spreading rather being a tool for it.

I think forgiving is a way for Ms Scherr to cope with the evil murder of a sweet girl and a loving husband.

But for me, it is the wrong sentiment. Religious hate encouraged by Pakistani citizens continues without remorse, and then they attempt to rationalize and justify the hate. These weren't just 10 people acting alone, they were acting out the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis, including many in the Pakistani Army and Government who allow mastermind hate monger Hafeez Saeed to practice his creed of hate unhindered. Their Govt plays politics with a tragedy like this - notice how just in time for the anniversary they charged 7 with aiding and abetting. You will see them go free soon for lack of evidence.

These are the people to whom John Kerry and Richard Lugar lobbied to give $7.5 billion, and then apologized to Pakistan for attempting to put conditions on the aid.

The United States declares Iran a state sponsor of terror, but cannot do the same for Pakistan. When was the last time you saw Iranians commit this kind of atrocity? Do you see any hue and cry from Pakistani citizens because the sponsors of these killers are free? It is time Muslims understand that Pakistanis give Islam a bad name.

No one is forgiven UNTIL they are sorry. This is from the Bible. IF (IF( they are sorry from the heart then we must forgive them. Still, there is tremendous cowardice from the silence in the muslim community by not more emphatic demands and actions against terrorists. Who sees muslims speaking out against terror on FOX News, etc.? What ACTIONS are taking place against terror by muslims. Pathetic little. You know why civilized nations do not trust muslims? You do not deserve trust. You have not earned trust because your hearts are not truly against terrorists.

GOD can even forgive you and send you to Hell...
because it what you do that matters and all of us must take responsability for our actions...

Forgiveness is fine but they still have to pay for their acts of terrorism...
GOD forgives but do you think you won't pay for the life of greed and pain you have caused on others...
of course you will pay for that because that makes it right...
and doesn't give sinners a loophole to escape responsability for their sins...

Disgraceful comments on here. Does the WaPo even bother moderating its comment forums - it seems to be a breeding ground of extremism.

Didn't think this was the Washington Times. Or the Völkischer Beobachter.

Man up. Never forgive and never forget.

May the survivors of those who perished on 26/11 be blessed with strength to cope with their losses as the entire world too shares their grief.

On the other hand this constant bickering and defense of one religion or another will not solve anything -- it will not bring love or peace – it will only bolster the already inflated egos and angers.

It is of paramount importance that first we develop courage to see things as they are. And then we help our Muslim brothers and sisters to see the reality until they too feel the sufferings of the survivors of violence committed at behest Islam, no matter by how few. At the same time other religions and ideologies that too are exploiting the innocents to commit crimes need open their hearts and accept their responsibilities

We need to encourage the peace and love seeking Muslims to speak out against the hell unleashed in the good name of Islam. Truly, it is an opportunity for Islam to rise to the levels it claims to have.

Note that it only takes a few drops of poison to wipe out the good. And then it takes monumental efforts of the good to mend the mess created by the poison. There is much too much poison in our otherwise very beautiful world. We should be thankful for our accomplishments for the happiness and goodness of all.

While Mrs Sherr may be praised by some as an exceptional, noble person who "rises above untidy deaths to bestow forgiveness" - another way of looking at it is that there is a species of woman out there compelled to defend and forgive the husband that beats her to a pulp, her rapist, and so on.
You read about this sort of woman all the time. The woman who "prayed, then from that spiritual enlightenment, forgave her daughters kidnapper/rapist/killer", then moved on to "understanding him", and now working to get him out of jail.

In France, that sort of woman usually had her head shaved at the end of WWII.

Now we are told we must admire such women who emotionally driven into a victimization-forgiveness-collaboration cycle.

Say what you want about men, but I've never heard of one who is discovered and then is extolled in the media for "rising above hatred" and giving his wife's slayer and his daughter's rapist-killer "warm and meaningful hugs" in the prison receiving area. No effort to "understand it from the thug's perspective".

Forgive and forget has been ongoing for the last 60 years - and hence Pakistan is rising way up in the halls of shame.

Even if an exceptional person like Kia can forget or forgive magnamously, for the poor families of India who lost their sole bread earner or son in an attack at a public place - the life ahead is very very grim, so the method to stop the attacks must be found proactively by any one calling himself a leader. Failing this the civilization as we know it will crumble under the cumulative stress.

If they're not sorry they are not to be forgiven but pursued like the pig eaters they are and killed. Let's call a spade a spade: These are muslim extremists bent on eradicating Jews and Chriatians. And the muslims who do not speak out against radical islam are cowards, too. Have a nice day.

Interesting. NOw, what do you make of this? A Muslim blogger thinks the widespread victimization against EUROPEAN Jews is justified by certain Israeli policies. Now, you might ask what one thing has to do with another, but, then, you are not a racist.

Dad and his daughter were sitting at Hotel...
Dad and his pretty daughter were eating their meals....
Terrorists/Murderers came and slew them....
Her mom's beloved daughter was teenager and she had dreams...
Beheaders came and killed her.

Little Ishmeal and his little girl freind were walking....
Cult Followers came and murdered little Ishmeal...,little girl's black eyes fulled by tears and a few tears dropped from her beautiful black eyes...
Many years passed,but time doesnt heal her.
Little girl,now nice woman is grieved...
Ishmeal's cute girl freind is sad...,everything is understood from her black eyes...
She tries to laugh,but her eyes dont laugh...,her grief is seen on her eyes.

Murderers will be strangled in Ishmeal's blood and then her black eyes will laugh...

Ms Sherr,

This is a wonderful post! If everyone of us could somehow overcome those emotions of vengence that spiral into a vicious cycle of counter revenges, this world could become a lovely place. Its sad that people would attempt to promote hatred and totally ignore the spirit that this article aims to portray. Well I think we can just ignore these racists. They intentionally throw these racist slurs to get noticed. Let them be consumed by their own hatred~!

Interesting. NOw, what do you make of this? A Muslim blogger thinks the widespread victimization against EUROPEAN Jews is justified by certain Israeli policies. Now, you might ask what one thing has to do with another, but, then, you are not a racist.

Forgiving followers of the koran for their acts of terror and horror, will not work because they think they are following the will of Allah.

A short list of some of their acts of terror and horror:

1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured

1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh

2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured

3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops, 3,476 killed in combat, 890 in non-combat roles, 94,231 – 102,820 Iraqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]

5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.

6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.

7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.

8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.

9) The execution of an eloping couple in Afghanistan on 04/15/2009 by the Taliban.

10) Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: US troops killed in action 650, 192killed in non-combat situations as of 10/20/09

11) The killing of 13 citizen soldiers at Ft. Hood by a another follower of the koran.