In answer to letter writer Mark Gelbart wishing to eradicate all religions ("Religion -- who needs it, anyway?) Aug. 6), I wonder if he has considered how some religions affect women.

The cartoons showing cavemen dragging women by the hair are more accurate than he knows. Liberals demonize both Christian fundamentalists and radical Islam, but in truth, women have a miserable existence even under moderate Islam. There is no moral equivalence unless you are blind.

Islam encourages polygamy, which degrades women. Islamic law allows men to beat wives; capriciously divorce; and commit honor killings. Some Muslims even mutilate the genitalia of women. Jews and Christians embrace monogamy, which elevates women in comparison.

Polygamy also is vicious to men, because for every extra wife there's a man who will never marry. They are sent off to war or jihad to die. Polygamy always devolves into brutality. Even our home-grown polygamists brutalize wives to keep them obedient, and ostracize hundreds of younger men from their close-knit communities.

Mark Gelbart is naive if he thinks we would be so much better off without all religions.