'Isis' Bookstore: Please Stop Vandalizing Us

A Denver-area store called Isis Books & Gifts wants the world to know its name comes from the Egyptian goddess of healing and motherhood and it isn't run by terrorists. Co-owner Jeff Harrison says the suburban Denver shop has been vandalized five times in the past year or so, probably by people who mistake the name for ISIS, one of the acronyms for the Islamic State terrorist group. The latest vandalism came last weekend when a store sign was smashed after the terrorist attacks in Paris. The store sells books and gifts related to spirituality, religion, and healing.

"Isis is the name of an Egyptian goddess, 3,500 years old at least, the goddess of women and healing and childbirth—basically the antithesis of everything the terrorists are about," he said. Harrison suspects the vandals are "some ignorant people believing that somehow the terrorists have a store, a gift store, in the middle of Denver, Colorado." Still, he has no plans to change the name. "Business has been fine. Actually on the uptick." (More ISIS stories.)