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Islamic bigotry toward non-Muslims: pundits proclaim that Osama bin Laden''s fanatical followers do not practice `true'' Islam. But what exactly is the difference between `moderate'' and `militant''? (Reporter''s Notebook).

Article Excerpt
Americans have listened carefully since September as politicians and commentators have waxed sagely that the war on terrorism is not a religious war, that the Islam of Osama bin Laden is a false Islam and that true Islam is a religion of love that accepts all faiths. Religious bigotry is not politically correct, and religious tolerance is a principle of the American ethic. But those claiming that Islam is not devotedly hostile to other faiths either have turned a blind eye or are unaware of the long history of religious persecution in the Muslim world.

Andrew Sullivan has made this point straight, clear and without apologies in the New York Times. "The religious dimension of this conflict," he wrote, "is central to its meaning." Bin Laden openly blames Christianity, Judaism and the United States for his jihad, or holy war, citing the Koran for justification. Consider:

* "And whoever does not believe in Allah and His Apostle, then surely We have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers" (Sura [Chapter] 48, Verse 13).

* "O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard [against evil]" (Sura 9, Verse 123).

* "And kill them [unbelievers] wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers" (Sura 2, Verse 191).

But even such rhetoric doesn't do justice to the centuries of religious persecution by Muslim leaders. For that, you have to get up close and personal, like the 16 Christians murdered while worshipping at St. Dominic's Catholic Church in Pakistan on Oct. 28, 2001; or the incident at Quetta Airport in the same country a week later, when pro-Taliban gunmen opened fire on five security guards, coincidentally killing the only Christian guard among them while leaving the Muslims unharmed.

This reporter has seen Islamic persecution...