Letters

Mental illness & Arizona
Let’s stop being afraid of the subject matter of mental health.
Just because a mental disease can show itself in an overt, scary way –
as recently shown in Arizona – it does not mean we should run. It is
a disease. Like all of the hundreds of diseases that human beings
suffer, it has a biological, physical and emotional cause. We just
need to do a lot more work to really identity mental illnesses. It is
one of the major medical areas still not fully explored.
What can each of us do? First, if you or a family member seem to
be mentally suffering, just go to your doctor and talk. Keep asking
questions, read up on it as much as possible. Don’t be afraid, don’t
ignore the situation and don’t let it fester. Second, try very hard to
keep it in a balanced state. Balance is the key for diabetes,
hypertension, etc. Third, philanthropic people, gear up. City,
state and national telethons like Jerry Lewis’s MD drive are needed to
garner huge funding for mental health research - more activated brain
scans, post-autopsy brain pathology and sociological studies.
We all have suffered from disease. Mental disease sufferers have
suffered longer. Let’s put our American wherewithal into it.
Remember, truth will always give light to the darkness.

Jill Rahrig Bourdon • via email

Our brothers‘ protector
Cartoonist Walt Kelly first used the saying, “We have met the enemy
and he is us” in 1970 on a poster for Earth Day. I have come to
understand something like that in “we have met the terrorist and they
live among us.”
Time after time we are dumbfounded by the horrific actions of our
fellow man. Once again someone has chosen to become what can only be
described as a home grown terrorist.
In recent history here and throughout the world one person, or a
group, have planned and instituted such levels of indiscriminate
violence that their actions can only be seen as terrorism. Don’t fool
yourself; a harsh military response or the actions of a bully are
forms of terrorism.
As a nation we must come to grips with the fact that if someone is
willing to give up their life to harm you, then they will do so no
matter what level of security is in place. Our nation’s intelligence
community is tasked and challenged to protect us from terrorist
actions from outside our boarders. But it is the everyday citizen who
needs to be alert for the potential domestic terrorists who live and
move among us.
We must become observant within our own communities. We need to
meet our neighbors and try to become aware of how they feel about us,
others, and the community. We must be willing to question behavior
that falls outside the norm. We are not just our brother’s keeper but
our brother’s protector as well. To not question activity that is
clearly violent in thought, practice, and deed is to allow the fuse of
violence to burn inevitably toward an explosive situation.

Michael MacCready • via email


Correction
A website was incorrectly listed in a recent letter on family
farms. The correct website is www.MichiganFamilyFarms.com.

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