Letter to the Editor of the Rolla Daily News in response to Islam bashing printed August 20, 2011 under title Setting record straight on Islam Dear Editor: Sandra Lewis, in her August 6 letter to editor on abortion writes: "It sounds like a 'nanny state' mentality that has no place anywhere but in a Muslim country that subjugates women as lesser beings." Islam views the roles of men and women as complementary and cooperative; but basically equitable. For example, unlike the biblical account, The Quran places equal blame on Adam and Eve for humanity's expulsion from the Garden: "And he [Satan] swore to them both [Adam and Eve] that he was their sincere advisor. So by deceit he brought about their fall." -Quran 7:21-22 Islam is life affirming toward all humanity, particularly children: "Do not kill your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin." -Qur'an 17:31 Islam forbade the barbarous practice of female infanticide which was widespread at the time the Quran was revealed and still practiced today in some places: "When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned for what crime was she killed;" -Quran 81:8-9 While Islamic scholars differ as to when abortion is justified, there appears to be near unanimity that abortion is justified in cases in which a pregnancy places the mother's life in real danger (the subject of Ms. Lewis's letter). In contrast to the West, Muslims have not permitted the subject of abortion to polarize and tear apart Islamic society. Personally, I would have found Ms. Lewis's arguments far more worthy, had she made them without resorting to such a blatantly false, prejudicial and uninformed statement. I highly recommend the short pamphlet, "Gender Equity in Islam" by Jamal Badawi. Tom Sager Rolla ###