Church officials in Pakistan have backed a government plea to the international community not to demonize all Muslims because of acts of terrorism committed by a few extremists. Negative news and publicity against Muslims by the Western media are helping extremists fuel hatred against Muslims worldwide, they said. Targeting the whole Muslim community helps the aims of terrorists, the Rev. Aftab James Paul, former director of the Faisalabad Diocesan Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, said on April 13. “This is exactly what they want. The recent bombing of innocent people in a park of Lahore has proven that they do not care for either Christian or Muslims. So blaming Muslims for terrorism will further alienate innocent people from the rest of the world,” he said.

This article appears in May 2 2016.