Gier’s Response…

Dear Editor:

I want to thank Vickey Babayco (July 14th) for praising my rhetorical skills. I strive for both phrasing that catches the reader’s interest and solid, fact-based analysis. Opinion writers worth their salt always control their message carefully.

Babyco’s charge of verbal abuse, however, misses the mark. Donald Trump, my target in the column, is the worst verbal abuser in modern political history. Calling women “pigs,” law- abiding immigrants “rapists,” and reporters “sleaze” is beyond the pale.

I don’t have to read Trump’s mind to know he is “clueless,” because he demonstrates his ignorance nearly every time he speaks.

When asked about Britain leaving the European Union, Trump didn’t know anything about it. When he was in Scotland recently, he praised them for voting to leave when in fact they voted to stay.

As for my religious preference, I must confess that I am a Buddhist. As a scholar focusing on religious violence, I just published a book that concludes that Buddhism, by far, is the Asian religion that has had the most religiously motivated violence.

I defend Muslims when they are attacked unfairly, just as I defend Christians in India when they are persecuted by Hindus and Muslims. I also use strong rhetoric in doing so.

Nick Gier
Moscow