ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 31, 1990                   TAG: 9004020187
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FUNDAMENTALISM NOT UNTOUCHABLE

FORMER Moral Majority spokesman Cal Thomas is outraged by "The handmaid's tale" (column March 18). He calls it anti-Christian bigotry and says this is morally as wrong as racial bigotry. His comparison fails, for two reasons.

First, race is irrelevant, beliefs are not. What you believe directly affects what you do. Beliefs are chosen and can be changed. No one can choose or change one's race, and race has no direct link to behavior.

Second, criticism is not the same as bigotry. The target of "The handmaid's tale" is fundamentalism, showing what the author believes fundamentalists would do if they held power. She may be right or wrong, but given the history of state religions, no one can deny she has reason.

Contrary to what Thomas seems to think, fundamentalists are not the only Christians, and Christians are not the only good members of society. There is no reason for fundamentalism to be untouchable.\ JOHN HODGES\ BLACKSBURG 


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