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Professor Donaldson checked her wristwatch. "My time is just about up, so I'll try to wrap this up fairly quickly." She took another drink of water.

"Many Muslim groups talk about the 'true Islam' and the original spirit of Islam. However, mixed in with this talk, one also finds, quite frequently, a number of other motivational forces hiding beneath the outward talk.

"This scenario of wolf-like motivations attempting to benefit from being hidden by the innocence and purity of sheep's wool is not exclusive to Muslims. It plays itself out in every religious tradition.

"Some individuals are powerless and desire to be powerful. Some are alienated and want to have a sense of belonging. For each of these groups of people, Islam is not important except as a possible means of satisfying a variety of needs that are not necessarily of a spiritual nature.

"Some Muslim groups want to bask in the euphoria of restoring what they believe is the lost glory of Islam. What they don't seem to understand is that Islam can never lose any of its glory. In reality, the glory which such people seek is the pride, arrogance and conceit of self-glorification.

"Some of these groups and individuals are driven by national, ethnic, tribal, racial and/or religious hatreds. They wish to exploit Islam and hijack its moral authority to serve their dark purposes.

"The true Islam, the original spirit of Islam, is completely preoccupied with, and absorbed in, qualities of love, compassion, charitableness, chivalry, justice, forgiveness, tolerance, kindness, gratitude, gentleness, humility, self-purification, patience, harmony and selflessness. Knowing Divinity, serving Divinity, trusting in Divinity, remembering Divinity, cherishing Divinity and loving Divinity are the woof and warp of the true Islam.

"Consequently, to speak of Islamic terrorism is a contradiction in terms. On the other hand, to speak of the terrorism of someone who refers to himself or herself as Muslim is not necessarily a contradiction in terms.

"So called Muslims who advocate the use of force and violence in order to impose their distorted interpretation of Islam onto others do a great violence to the spirit of Islam. This is so for four reasons.

"First, the use of force and violence to induce compliance from others in matters of religion is inconsistent with one of the central precepts of Islam. More specifically, there can be no compulsion used in bringing about the realization of the essential spiritual nature of human beings.

"The kind of submission that God seeks comes only through an individual's free will or unforced offering. To intimidate, extort, or terrorize people, in order to get them to adopt a Muslim's interpretation of things, completely violates the spiritual etiquette of Islam.

"Secondly, with respect to those who resort to the use of force, violence or terror in order to secure acquiescence from others on a variety of social issues, such people display a profound lack of trust in God. Such people do not have confidence in the capacity of the will of Divinity to effectively carry out Divine purposes independently of what people do or don't do.

"People who rely on violence and terror to achieve their allegedly spiritual objectives have a very inflated opinion of themselves. They seem to assume that if they did not use violence or terror, God would be helpless to realize Divine wishes. Such people have a pathetic and extremely warped understanding of the ways of Divinity.

"Thirdly, whoever employs force and violence as tools of persuasion reveals an enormous poverty of imagination, creativity, wisdom and spiritual artistry. Submission comes through the heart's attraction to the beauty, nobility and integrity of the example which reflects the light of Divinity. Force and violence will never generate such attraction.

"Someone once said: 'Violence is the last refuge of incompetence'. People who are inclined to terror and violence as instruments of spiritual evangelism are admitting incompetence.

"In effect, they are acknowledging they lack the personal resources of integrity, inventiveness and a generosity of spirit that are needed to exercise spiritual competence in finding artful, non-violent solutions to problems in the face of adversity. There is absolutely nothing resourceful about killing other people.

"Fourthly, and finally, anyone who uses force, violence and/or terror as part of her or his yellow-brick road to paradise is debasing the nature of the intention which should be behind all actions of a Muslim. Everything should be done for the sake of God's satisfaction and pleasure.

"If one is committing acts of violence because one believes this will be one's ticket of admission to heaven, the intention underlying one's acts is the achievement of paradise, not the pleasure of God. God's pleasure merely becomes a means to one's own ends.

"In addition, if a group or individual actually believes God finds either pleasure or satisfaction in acts of terror or misguided violence, then such people have a very distorted understanding of how to go about pleasing God. Unfortunately, such beliefs have been very prevalent throughout history, and not just amongst Muslims."

As Professor Donaldson concluded, Dr. Jameson stood up and went to the front of the room, near where Rachel was standing. On behalf of the Bettinger Foundation, he expressed an appreciation for her willingness to share her ideas with the people in attendance. He also reminded people of the coffee and other refreshments awaiting them near the back wall. Finally, he thanked everyone for coming to the program.

While watching Dr. Jameson express appreciation to Professor Donaldson for sharing her ideas with the audience, my clinical training wouldn't permit me to miss the fact that his body language was very much out of sync with his words.

Apparently, for whatever reason, Dr. Donaldson was the source of the irritation I had observed in Dr. Jameson about half way through the Q and A session.

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