Several people objected to the comparison in something I cited of the backward ways of Italian immigrants a century ago to honor killings among today’s Muslim immigrants. I don’t disagree, though the column I quoted was still making a valid point that the end of immigration permitted assimilation to do its work.

One reader appealed to an unimpeachable source to demonstrate the difference between Sicilians then and Muslims now:

Regarding the comment about Italian immigrants – be it remembered that even the most traditional Italian immigrants, who adhered strictly to a ‘ . . .harsh, patriarchal culture . . . ‘, would not tolerate the norms of modern-day Islam. Even Vito Corleone would not condone the killing of the boys who had dishonored the daughter of the baker Bonasera [he was an undertaker — MK], never mind placing the blame on her for being dishonored. And Sonny Corleone died because he sought to protect his sister from an abusive husband.