Letters to the Editor 11-06-2001
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Made In Pakistan - Offensive Quote - The Right To Leave - Tornado Loss - Da-Lite Hero - Miracle Of Christianity - Bogus Contractor
Made In Pakistan
Editor, Times-Union:I just feel that I should let everyone know about this problem. Wal-Mart is selling clothing from Pakistan. I bought two Faded Glory men's shirts from the new Super Wal-Mart here in Warsaw and was horrified when I got home to find that one of them was made in Pakistan. Thousands of men have left Pakistan and gone to fight for the Taliban, and they are the ones that destroyed so many lives and changed our way of life. Wal-Mart is supposed to be a supporter of the United States. How can they support the United States if they are purchasing products from anti-American countries? I just thought that maybe this should be something you should know about. It upsets me terribly and I hope it upsets you enough to tell other people about it. Thank you for your time.
Amy Dunivan
Warsaw
via e-mail
Offensive Quote
Editor, Times-Union:Often I've read articles and opinions that I disagree with or found totally ignorant or narrow minded. My own thoughts are to each his own. However, I do think it irresponsible on the part of any news service in the United States to print a quote as derogatory toward any group of Americans as the recent one in the paper on Oct. 30, by now-deceased philosopher Eric Hoffer. He evidently had some issues with American Indians. To say that Native Americans hate America and we need new immigrants to love and cherish it, how ignorant. We do seem to be a bit blended.
Of course I do have my own personal issues for taking offense as I am one-quarter Native American. I recall going to a particular reservation to visit several times as a child. The people that I knew there had respect for each other and the land. I could write an entire page with ease telling you of the prejudices that have been felt as an independent female with mixed origins in this part of the country, but the problem is much larger than my own. The ease with which any form of prejudice is accepted and published in the press without reaction is an issue that should have been long ago resolved.
Whatever issues any of us has with another's ethnic background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or lifestyle, we should all appreciate it that we are here. There is not room for slams directed at another group of people in this country and especially not toward those native to it. Each of us has a past, a family and ethnic history which should be told to our children.
In most other countries as a female I would not be allowed to own property, be as educated as I choose, work at whatever I wish, dress however I like, practice whatever religion I choose and, of course, vote in political elections for whomever I wish. As an American citizen I enjoy many freedoms, including that to voice my own opinion about immigration, English as the national language, abortion, public education, etc. Personally, I don't think that any hate group should be given free rein. Of course any person with more than a few functioning brain cells realizes that there are differences in races and cultures, but why should we ever discredit another group of Americans?
In our country's most trying time in recent years, why would you choose to print such racist, narrow-minded comments? Perhaps it came over with other AP inserts, but don't you have a choice? Is it your way of seeing if anyone is paying attention? Or perhaps the opening for another barrage of letters to the editor by those of us who may not have previously been offended? Planting more subtle seeds of prejudice and racism seems very socially irresponsible to me, no matter how small a quotation.
Barbara Kelley
Milford
Editor's Note: The item the letter writer refers to was the Associated Press "Quote of the Day" on page 4A of the Oct. 30 edition.
The Right To Leave
Editor, Times-Union:Oklahoma school officials remove "God Bless America" signs from schools in fear that someone might be offended. Channel 12 news in Long Island orders flags removed from the newsroom and red, white and blue ribbons removed from the lapels of reporters because they did not want to appear biased.
Berkeley, Calif., bans U.S. flags from city fire trucks so as not to offend anyone in the community.
The head of the public library at Florida Gulf Coast University ordered all "Proud to be an American" signs removed so as not to offend international students.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether or not we are offending some individual or their culture.
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust had barely settled when the politically correct crowd began complaining about our patriotism offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America, as long as they are willing to work for it. In fact, our country's population is almost entirely comprised of descendants of immigrants who were willing to give up their former citizenship to work and make a new life in this country. However, there are a few things that those who have more recently come to our country and the politically correct need to understand.
First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to offend you in any way. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language. We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn our language.
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, right wing, political slogan. It is our national motto; it is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our currency.
We adopted this motto because good Christian men and women founded this nation and this is clearly documented throughout our history. It is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of government; it is also appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools in the hopes that it might also be inscribed on the hearts of all who live and work here.
God is in our pledge, our national anthem, nearly every patriotic song and in our founding documents. We honor his birth, death and resurrection as national holidays. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is most definitely a large part of our culture and we are proud of him.
We are Americans, like it or not, and this is our country.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture or society and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, you are highly encouraged to take advantage of one other great American freedom - the right to leave.
Author unknown, submitted by Deanna Newton
Warsaw
Tornado Loss
Editor, Times-Union:We would like to thank all of our family, friends, neighbors, the Mentone Fire Department and EMTs for all their help during the loss of our home due to the tornado. All the food, financial help and help cleaning up was greatly appreciated. Thanks again,
Doug and Brenda Lotz
Mentone
via e-mail
Da-Lite Hero
Editor, Times-Union:Last Wednesday Da-Lite Screen was struck by a tornado. As a member of second shift, I would like to publicly thank our hero for saving our collective lives. Rich Miatto is a volunteer fireman on our shift who gave us enough warning to get to shelter. He also helped many with injuries in the aftermath of the storm. There were many heroic acts that day, too many to mention. Rich, we just wanted to say a big THANKS. However, don't think that we are going to treat you any different. We will continue to laugh at you, make fun of you and embarrass you every chance we get. Just know that somewhere in our hearts, you have a place, because WE ARE FAMILY!
Sheri Helton
North Manchester
Miracle Of Christianity
Editor, Times-Union:Jesus Christ is bigger than the church. The central miracle of Christianity is Christ. He is the greatest fact in the world's history. He is our one universal hope and each person's hope.
To propagate our Christian faith, we who call ourselves by Christ's name must show that we have received something big and vital from Christ. He has given us new life, freed us from selfish desire and fear and given new power by his spirit in daily victory over life's strong foes. It means that we who would spread this good news to others have accepted Christ as our life partner and desire to point others to him for this victory also.
These days we are very aware of another religion, some of whose followers are creating havoc in our country and world. We must admit that their zeal has resulted in catastrophies here and abroad as they are obeying their god's will.
Let us take a lesson from a missionary to India. He was an effective, helpful follower of Christ to the people where he served. For several years he proved this through love and compassion and was admired in the community. An invitation to attend the dedication of a Hindu temple came to him. He prayed about it and went. His decision was based on his commitment to Christ to serve with love and compassion all of mankind. Several people acknowledged his presence and began coming to the mission. One lady who came asked to hear the message about Jesus and upon hearing of God's love in sending a Savior, remarked that she knew someone needed to do that to cleanse away sin and guilt.
Just as the missionary concluded that the key to overcoming all other religions is to live the faith and demonstrate the power of God's spirit that wins others to Christ. So help me to do, God, and you, Christian?
We sing "We've a Story To Tell To the Nations," does that include a story to our neighbor?
C.L. Hendrix
Winona Lake
Bogus Contractor
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing to make a statement to our fine citizens of Warsaw and Kosciusko County. It is about handymen and wannabe contractors. In the past I have dealt with contractors who do a job right and had good experiences with, and add a taste of professionalism! But my worst fears came, which we all worry in the backs of all our minds, are we going to find someone which seems to fit the job, acts like they are caring and stable, looks as if they can do a job and do it right the first time! But when I hired a contractor from a classified ad listing promoting himself as a reputable contractor able to do the job, I found out different and was burned! And as a result left my home in shambles and in worse shape than when I started. I lay blame on our state represenatives for allowing and not regulating this industry where anyone can put on a tool belt and say what they think they are and ruin and destroy and get away with it! I have contacted repeatedly the Attorney General's office with this complaint, they will tell you there is not much they can do, their hands seem to be tied, I will also tell you it is very easy to get a judgment in the courts these days, but enforcing it is something else! Trying to get your lost money back when the contractor knows the law and uses it to his advantage and the courts allow it, it is a game! I have learned a very valuable lesson from this as well, and again I want to say publicly that there are some good and decent contractors out there, I guess I stumbled upon a real bad apple!
There is one judge that he will not escape from in the end! And in conclusion I wish our state officials and political friends would look into regulating this industry more effectively and start protecting the consumer who vote and put you into office!
M.J. May
Warsaw
via e-mail
[[In-content Ad]]
- Made In Pakistan - Offensive Quote - The Right To Leave - Tornado Loss - Da-Lite Hero - Miracle Of Christianity - Bogus Contractor
Made In Pakistan
Editor, Times-Union:I just feel that I should let everyone know about this problem. Wal-Mart is selling clothing from Pakistan. I bought two Faded Glory men's shirts from the new Super Wal-Mart here in Warsaw and was horrified when I got home to find that one of them was made in Pakistan. Thousands of men have left Pakistan and gone to fight for the Taliban, and they are the ones that destroyed so many lives and changed our way of life. Wal-Mart is supposed to be a supporter of the United States. How can they support the United States if they are purchasing products from anti-American countries? I just thought that maybe this should be something you should know about. It upsets me terribly and I hope it upsets you enough to tell other people about it. Thank you for your time.
Amy Dunivan
Warsaw
via e-mail
Offensive Quote
Editor, Times-Union:Often I've read articles and opinions that I disagree with or found totally ignorant or narrow minded. My own thoughts are to each his own. However, I do think it irresponsible on the part of any news service in the United States to print a quote as derogatory toward any group of Americans as the recent one in the paper on Oct. 30, by now-deceased philosopher Eric Hoffer. He evidently had some issues with American Indians. To say that Native Americans hate America and we need new immigrants to love and cherish it, how ignorant. We do seem to be a bit blended.
Of course I do have my own personal issues for taking offense as I am one-quarter Native American. I recall going to a particular reservation to visit several times as a child. The people that I knew there had respect for each other and the land. I could write an entire page with ease telling you of the prejudices that have been felt as an independent female with mixed origins in this part of the country, but the problem is much larger than my own. The ease with which any form of prejudice is accepted and published in the press without reaction is an issue that should have been long ago resolved.
Whatever issues any of us has with another's ethnic background, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or lifestyle, we should all appreciate it that we are here. There is not room for slams directed at another group of people in this country and especially not toward those native to it. Each of us has a past, a family and ethnic history which should be told to our children.
In most other countries as a female I would not be allowed to own property, be as educated as I choose, work at whatever I wish, dress however I like, practice whatever religion I choose and, of course, vote in political elections for whomever I wish. As an American citizen I enjoy many freedoms, including that to voice my own opinion about immigration, English as the national language, abortion, public education, etc. Personally, I don't think that any hate group should be given free rein. Of course any person with more than a few functioning brain cells realizes that there are differences in races and cultures, but why should we ever discredit another group of Americans?
In our country's most trying time in recent years, why would you choose to print such racist, narrow-minded comments? Perhaps it came over with other AP inserts, but don't you have a choice? Is it your way of seeing if anyone is paying attention? Or perhaps the opening for another barrage of letters to the editor by those of us who may not have previously been offended? Planting more subtle seeds of prejudice and racism seems very socially irresponsible to me, no matter how small a quotation.
Barbara Kelley
Milford
Editor's Note: The item the letter writer refers to was the Associated Press "Quote of the Day" on page 4A of the Oct. 30 edition.
The Right To Leave
Editor, Times-Union:Oklahoma school officials remove "God Bless America" signs from schools in fear that someone might be offended. Channel 12 news in Long Island orders flags removed from the newsroom and red, white and blue ribbons removed from the lapels of reporters because they did not want to appear biased.
Berkeley, Calif., bans U.S. flags from city fire trucks so as not to offend anyone in the community.
The head of the public library at Florida Gulf Coast University ordered all "Proud to be an American" signs removed so as not to offend international students.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether or not we are offending some individual or their culture.
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust had barely settled when the politically correct crowd began complaining about our patriotism offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America, as long as they are willing to work for it. In fact, our country's population is almost entirely comprised of descendants of immigrants who were willing to give up their former citizenship to work and make a new life in this country. However, there are a few things that those who have more recently come to our country and the politically correct need to understand.
First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to offend you in any way. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language. We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn our language.
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, right wing, political slogan. It is our national motto; it is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our currency.
We adopted this motto because good Christian men and women founded this nation and this is clearly documented throughout our history. It is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of government; it is also appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools in the hopes that it might also be inscribed on the hearts of all who live and work here.
God is in our pledge, our national anthem, nearly every patriotic song and in our founding documents. We honor his birth, death and resurrection as national holidays. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is most definitely a large part of our culture and we are proud of him.
We are Americans, like it or not, and this is our country.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture or society and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, you are highly encouraged to take advantage of one other great American freedom - the right to leave.
Author unknown, submitted by Deanna Newton
Warsaw
Tornado Loss
Editor, Times-Union:We would like to thank all of our family, friends, neighbors, the Mentone Fire Department and EMTs for all their help during the loss of our home due to the tornado. All the food, financial help and help cleaning up was greatly appreciated. Thanks again,
Doug and Brenda Lotz
Mentone
via e-mail
Da-Lite Hero
Editor, Times-Union:Last Wednesday Da-Lite Screen was struck by a tornado. As a member of second shift, I would like to publicly thank our hero for saving our collective lives. Rich Miatto is a volunteer fireman on our shift who gave us enough warning to get to shelter. He also helped many with injuries in the aftermath of the storm. There were many heroic acts that day, too many to mention. Rich, we just wanted to say a big THANKS. However, don't think that we are going to treat you any different. We will continue to laugh at you, make fun of you and embarrass you every chance we get. Just know that somewhere in our hearts, you have a place, because WE ARE FAMILY!
Sheri Helton
North Manchester
Miracle Of Christianity
Editor, Times-Union:Jesus Christ is bigger than the church. The central miracle of Christianity is Christ. He is the greatest fact in the world's history. He is our one universal hope and each person's hope.
To propagate our Christian faith, we who call ourselves by Christ's name must show that we have received something big and vital from Christ. He has given us new life, freed us from selfish desire and fear and given new power by his spirit in daily victory over life's strong foes. It means that we who would spread this good news to others have accepted Christ as our life partner and desire to point others to him for this victory also.
These days we are very aware of another religion, some of whose followers are creating havoc in our country and world. We must admit that their zeal has resulted in catastrophies here and abroad as they are obeying their god's will.
Let us take a lesson from a missionary to India. He was an effective, helpful follower of Christ to the people where he served. For several years he proved this through love and compassion and was admired in the community. An invitation to attend the dedication of a Hindu temple came to him. He prayed about it and went. His decision was based on his commitment to Christ to serve with love and compassion all of mankind. Several people acknowledged his presence and began coming to the mission. One lady who came asked to hear the message about Jesus and upon hearing of God's love in sending a Savior, remarked that she knew someone needed to do that to cleanse away sin and guilt.
Just as the missionary concluded that the key to overcoming all other religions is to live the faith and demonstrate the power of God's spirit that wins others to Christ. So help me to do, God, and you, Christian?
We sing "We've a Story To Tell To the Nations," does that include a story to our neighbor?
C.L. Hendrix
Winona Lake
Bogus Contractor
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing to make a statement to our fine citizens of Warsaw and Kosciusko County. It is about handymen and wannabe contractors. In the past I have dealt with contractors who do a job right and had good experiences with, and add a taste of professionalism! But my worst fears came, which we all worry in the backs of all our minds, are we going to find someone which seems to fit the job, acts like they are caring and stable, looks as if they can do a job and do it right the first time! But when I hired a contractor from a classified ad listing promoting himself as a reputable contractor able to do the job, I found out different and was burned! And as a result left my home in shambles and in worse shape than when I started. I lay blame on our state represenatives for allowing and not regulating this industry where anyone can put on a tool belt and say what they think they are and ruin and destroy and get away with it! I have contacted repeatedly the Attorney General's office with this complaint, they will tell you there is not much they can do, their hands seem to be tied, I will also tell you it is very easy to get a judgment in the courts these days, but enforcing it is something else! Trying to get your lost money back when the contractor knows the law and uses it to his advantage and the courts allow it, it is a game! I have learned a very valuable lesson from this as well, and again I want to say publicly that there are some good and decent contractors out there, I guess I stumbled upon a real bad apple!
There is one judge that he will not escape from in the end! And in conclusion I wish our state officials and political friends would look into regulating this industry more effectively and start protecting the consumer who vote and put you into office!
M.J. May
Warsaw
via e-mail
[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092