Elizabeth Smart is a victim of the radical fringe. There has been way too much radical thinking going around lately.

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Elizabeth Smart is home safe and sound. The little girl who lives in my home state is a victim of the radical fringe. She lives where people feel relatively safe, where they go to church, talk religion, try to be good, honest and decent people and like people everywhere, tend not to notice the pockets of intolerance in their own communities and in their own hearts.
Elements of hatred do not exist only in the hills and back streets of foreign lands and in the cellars of mosques and churches of little-known religions but right here at home. This is an issue that is getting short shrift in the press. Unless it is aired it will molder in our own alleys and the recesses of our own Judeo-Christian traditions with
an even more devastating effect.
Someone once said, "We have seen the enemy and it is us."
After the World Trade Towers decomposed before our eyes there was some discussion about the corrosive nature of prejudice. Mostly we heard this after American backlash against
Muslims make headlines across the world. That the nature of radicalism was not discussed earlier lost us a chance to mitigate these vile reactions before they ran rampant.
Because the Smart kidnapping has returned to the front pages or our newspapers and because of the likelihood that this story will remain in the news as the case moves through the courts, I fear another backlash.
The perpetrators of this devastating crime were part of a radical fringe. Those who don't understand the Mormon religion or its culture may find prejudice lying in wait to attack again.
Because I am an author whose books are set in Utah I am often privy to intolerance about the Mormons--especially after people hear that I am not a member of that church. Most of
these opinions are based on inaccurate rumors about the Mormons and Utah culture in general.
The Elizabeth Smart Case--a cold and impersonal term--may add fuel to that fire. Joan Stewart, a well-known publicist and editor of The Publicity Hound said, " Some, like me, are tempted to paint Mormons with the same broad brush, just because
of this one nut case." To her credit she understands the danger. Her concern is my concern.
I worry that the problem is broader still. I see a tendency in our society to blame, to concentrate on the differences between our diverse groups rather than the similarities. If we can come together as this case progresses, can see how radicalism
affects our culture, indeed has influenced cultures from the
beginning of time, we will be better for it.
Shaking our heads and pointing to the insane tendencies at the outer limit of one group only blinds us to the fact that there are those among "us"--whoever "us" may be--who are just as dangerous, just as deluded.

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Carolyn is the author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Rememeber" both set in Utah. Learn more at http://carolynhowardjohnson.com