Thank you for your comment, Mitra. I do think that religious leaders are speaking up more and more. Thinking individuals agree that the core idea of most, if not all, religions is a compassionate view of the world in which each of us should do unto others as we would have them do unto ourselves. I also know of so many people who find great strength and community from their church or mosque or synagogue and that their sense of belonging only enhances their openness to people of other faiths and persuasions.

What worries me are the hardest edges — or even moreso, individuals who pervert essential teachings and use them to prey upon fears and insecurities to make people sometimes do terrible things. This is a real phenomenon and one we must both understand and confront.