Suppose you encountered a religion whose sacred book taught that everyone who didn�t profess that faith would fry for eternity in a fiery pit, a religion whose teachings were cited as the justification for burning unbelievers at the stake, keeping Blacks in slavery, restricting women�s freedom, banning books and executing scientists whose findings contradicted the religion�s tenets.

Hardly a religion based in love and tolerance, you might say.

That religion would be Christianity.

Given the intolerant, aggressive, bloody history of people acting in Christ�s name, you�d hope Christians would think twice before calling somebody else�s religion wicked. There�s no evidence, however, that Christian evangelist Franklin Graham thought even once before putting that brand on Islam.

Mr. Graham, who directs the praiseworthy efforts of Samaritan�s Purse ministry in Boone, said in statements aired Friday on NBC Nightly News that "we�re not attacking Islam, but Islam has attacked us. The God of Islam is not the same God. He�s not the son of God of the Christian or Judeo-Christian faith. It�s a different God and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion."

Offered a chance to reconsider his statement, Mr. Graham declined to do so. He did acknowledge in a statement Sunday that "it is not my calling to analyze Islam or any other religion though I recognized that all religions have differences."

He should have thought of that earlier.

Laying aside Mr. Graham�s certainty about which faith God belongs to, his assertion about the Sept. 11 attacks raises these questions. If it was Islam that attacked us, and not suicidal terrorists who had swallowed a poisoned interpretation of the faith, why have Islamic scholars worldwide condemned the act as contrary to Islamic teachings? Why have nations such as Pakistan, where Islam is the dominant religion, supported our efforts to punish those responsible for the attack?

In fact, both Christianity and Islam have had their demented extremists. Osama bin Laden says his Islamic beliefs support the slaughter of thousands of innocents in New York and Washington Sept. 11. Adolf Hitler in numerous speeches referred to himself as a Christian and his Third Reich as an instrument of Christ. The list of murderers and terrorists who claimed God was on their side is long and depressing. The question of whether a religion should be judged by its best or its worst adherents is open to debate, but it�s plainly unfair to use one standard for somebody else�s religion and another for your own.

Mr. Graham is right to be concerned about human rights abuses in some Muslim nations. The diversity within the Muslim world suggests, however, that national traditions and leaders have as much to do with the abuses as the Qur�an.

The greatest advance in religious freedom has come with the separation of church and state. When church and state are one, it�s tempting to use state power to impose religious teachings. Religious freedom removes that danger of coercion. Thus, Islam as practiced in the United States is different from Islam as practiced in the Taliban�s Afghanistan. And Mr. Grahan�s statements reflect his views, not national policy.

Thank heavens, Graham.