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Besides the article's religious ignorance also lies a specifically anti-Christian bias. Yeoman describes Islam as an aggressive, mission-minded, intolerant religion that kills those who opt out, and yet we are supposed to be upset with the Christian missionaries because they provoke Muslim violence. We are supposed to be critical of those who are trying to instill notions of freedom, human dignity, and the ideal of noncoercive religious choice into a culture that opposes them? (But doesn't that come close to the very mission statement of Mother Jones?) We are supposed to label as "bad guys" the Christian missionaries who are willing to risk their lives for the opportunity to persuade others about the truth of the gospel and see as victims violent Muslim mobs who oppose the missionaries.

If this is our attempt to eliminate Islam, then we are guilty as charged. (In the same vein, then, Pepsi is guilty of wanting to eliminate Coke drinkers. And Mother Jones is out to eliminate readers of the Wall Street Journal.) And so God bless the great Eliminator, Jesus Christ, who wanted so much to eliminate the whole world that he was willing to bear the cross. Amen.

Michael G. Maudlin is the executive editor of Books & Culture.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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This weekend's Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted both the Mother Jones cover story and the recent issue of Books & Culture.

Books & Culture Corner appears Mondays at ChristianityToday.com. Earlier Books & Culture Corners include:

'A Peculiar People' | The uniqueness of the Jews. (April 29, 2002)

'Nebuchadnezzar My Slave' | Was the Holocaust God's will? (April 15, 2002)

'In the Beginning Was the Holocaust'? | Blasphemy, rage, memory, and meaning of the Shoah. (April 8, 2002)

The Gospel According to Biff | A conversation with novelist Christopher Moore. (April 1, 2002)

Baseball 2002 Preview | Part 2: Saving the game? (March 25, 2002)

The State of the Game | After one of the best World Series ever, baseball faces a crisis. (March 18, 2002)

America's Homegrown Islam—and Its Prophet | The strange story of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam and onetime mentor of Malcolm X. (Mar. 11, 2002)

'Must Be Superstition' | Rediscovering spiritual reality. (Mar. 4, 2002)

Science Holds a Meeting | A report from the annual convention of the AAAS. (Feb. 25, 2002)

Saint Frodo and the Potter Demon | The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series spring from the same source. (Feb. 18, 2002)

Dictionary of the Future | Trendspotter Faith Popcorn on the words that will define our tomorrow. (Feb. 11, 2002)

Does Creationism Equal Holocaust Denial? | Yes, says Michael Shermer in Scientific American. (Feb. 4, 2002)

Theodore Rex | Is "popular history" getting a bad rap? (Jan. 28, 2002)

Letter to Martin Luther King, Jr. | A progress report. (Jan. 21, 2002)

Keeping the Dust on Your Boots | Remembering the Afghan refugees—and the church in Iran. (Jan. 14, 2002)

Coming Attractions | Books to watch for this year. (Jan. 7, 2002)

Books of the Year, Part 2 | After the top ten, here's the best of the rest. (Jan. 4, 2002)

Books of the Year | Part 1: The Top Ten (Dec. 17, 2001)

"Daddy, What Is the Soul?" | Does the church have an answer? (Dec. 10, 2001)

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May (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46