From Frank & Esther Schierenberg:

Re: Angry God, angry people (Feb. 28): The article may have a point, but the conclusion:

“To the ex­tent re­li­gious ex­trem­ists en­gage in pro­longed, se­lec­tive read­ing of the scrip­tures, fo­cus­ing on vi­o­lent ret­ri­bu­tion to­ward unbe­liev­ers in­stead of the over­all mes­sage of ac­cept­ance and un­der­stand­ing,” wrote Bush­man, “one might ex­pect to see in­creased bru­tality.”

is an atheist response and therefore sectarian. It’s the kind of opinions scholarly exposition tries to avoid.

“Acceptance and understanding” is not the answer, but “agreed upon and universally accepted and unchangeable behavioural standards” is the answer. Every eventual behavioural excess stems from people “accepting and understanding” every and all kinds of behaviour sans limits, including Hitler.

Christ and his legacy is just one of many similar attempts to forge a universally accepted standard of behaviour, a set of courteous rules for the game of life. I. e. Christ wants us to love our enemies, not kill them.