Scientist accused of anthrax killings was a religious man

From the mind of Bruce Ivins, the government scientist who apparently committed suicide last week as the FBI prepared to charge him with the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five, came these letters, published in the Frederick (Md.) News Post:

In one letter he praises a rabbi for refusing to engage in dialogue with a controversial local Muslim cleric.

“By blood and faith, Jews are God’s chosen, and have no need for ‘dialogue’ with any gentile,“ Ivins wrote in 2006.

Earlier letters suggest that he saw President Bush’s re-election as a victory for evangelicals.

“You can get on board or get left behind, because that Christian Nation Express is pulling out of the station!“ he wrote after the election.

Ivins killed himself as the U.S. Justice Department prepared to arrest him. Ivins’ beliefs are significant because the 2001 attacker in notes appeared to be a radical Islamist, writing “Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is Great.“

I see each of the Abrahamic faiths represented here, but I don’t think Ivins’ letters were a lesson in coexistence.