Letters 01-11-2016

Jan. 8, 2016

Real Muslim Talk

A recent letter stated that most Muslims assimilate to American culture just fine. This feel-good statement doesn’t reflect the whole picture: Muslims in the U.S. adapt minimally to local customs while aggressively asserting their own religion and culture upon their surroundings. Dearborn, Mich. is an ideal "laboratory" to observe this phenomenon, since it holds the largest Muslim population in the United States.

Many of my friends and relatives live and work among Muslims and I also have lived and worked in Dearborn and the vicinity. Collective observation and experience indicate that Muslims do not allow their children to associate with non-Muslims in school or in their neighborhoods, do not participate in neighborhood activities or community projects unless it directly effects them, and will do business and shopping only with Muslim proprietors unless there is no other choice.

Businesswomen are treated rudely and dismissively, and a Muslim man will not shake hands with a woman, stating it is his culture. Considering Americans shake hands, who is doing the assimilating here? Not the Muslim. No doubt most Muslims do not endorse terrorism, but they are not coming forward in large numbers to condemn these acts. Law enforcement receives little cooperation from Imams and Islamic worshippers regarding terrorist potential amongst them. This is due to their fear that to do so would appear disloyal to Islam. Non-violent Muslims thus have a public relations problem of their own making.

Readers spending time in some of the predominantly Muslim areas of Dearborn would be shocked, as you would not know you were in the United States.

Footnote: implying a writer is stupid for having a different opinion is not conducive to rational discourse.

J.Wynn, Petoskey

Shame On Us

I am a Native American living in northern Michigan. Natives believe in the sanctity of life. We believe women are givers of life, not takers. Abortion creates a scenario of a mother taking her own child’s life.

The Sept. 28-Oct.4 Northern Express – besides containing numerous errors and being filled with beer and wine ads here in Indian country -- had a demeaning cartoon slandering poor and minorities. The page three cartoon concerned Republican feminists.

In panel 2 you mislead readers by pretending Planned Parenthood is not in the abortion industry. Of course Planned Parenthood does more than one-third of all abortions and half of partial-birth late term abortions. Of course they are allowed to broker "unused tissue specimens..." and yes, they get paid for it. It’s right on their website. Don’t you so called newspaper men do any research anymore?

In panel 3 your cartoon slams poor and minority women; you all do it. It’s called media bias. Ask E.J. Dionne. Why do you assume the poor and minorities get STDs more than others? Is it because Planned Parenthood was started to target poor/ minorities to try to get rid of us?

Panel 4 shows helpless babies hitting the ground. How very tasteless and demeaning. But your paper is nothing but paid advertising, especially for beer and wine, here where natives are jailed for alcohol abuse at drastic numbers.

Shame on you for again stereotyping natives and poor and minorities. That cartoon is not the first you printed in regards to poor women. I have been poor all my life; I never contracted STDs.

Your so-called newspaper is a filthy rag I threw in the corner. Consider me an ex-reader.

Jo Ellen Keller Crossett, Harbor Springs

Embrace Our Water

I would like to gather together a group of like-minded people to focus on cleaning our water"¦water in our lakes, rivers, aquifers, etc. After seeing Masaru Emoto in the documentary film, "The Secret" and after reading his books, "The Hidden Messages In Water" and "The True Power Of Water," I realized that we have the power to clean our terribly polluted water that we cannot live without.

Emoto discovered that molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words, and feelings. Water carries information by way of frequencies/vibrations. Our bodies are made up of 70 percent water. Energy is best transmitted through water. Water becomes "holy" by way of positive, loving thoughts put into it.

Lake Biwa, the largest and most polluted body of water in Japan, was cleaned by a group of like-minded people who put loving, harmonious thoughts and words into the water. Within one month, they saw a dramatic improvement. A Native American group (The Water Walkers) walk around the Great Lakes, rivers, etc., blessing, praying and show gratitude for the precious water. Let’s help them by using Emoto’s wonderful, effective methods.

Colleen Rohloff, Buckley