Skip to footer

Readers Write: Islamists still dangerous; Irish history matters; US needs a CEO prez

Letters to the editor for the February 27 weekly print issue: One reader worries that despite post-Arab Spring political involvement, Islamists still have the potential for religious tyranny and terror. Another reader defends a common subject of Irish films – The Troubles – as still relevant. A third reader takes issue with a column arguing that the US doesn't need a CEO president.

Islamists still pose a risk

I very much appreciated the Feb. 20 editorial "Islamists come in from the cold." Kudos to the Arab Spring and to all the many heroic and forward-thinking Arabs who seek self-governance and dignity through peaceful means. Empowering nonviolence is crucial.

Hussein Ibish, senior research fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, a firm advocate of a fair and just negotiated settlement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, understands Islamists better than most, and he wisely points out the importance of "introducing inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women, and minorities."

Even with that sage advice, I am quite wary about pushing the all-inclusive message too hard. Extremists and hatemongers (in addition to radical Islamists) often piggyback on real struggles for freedom, happily usurping momentum for a just cause in order to gain positive publicity, popularity, and funds for their own self-absorbed aims.

Even moderate Islamists might be a very risky investment because the potential for religious tyranny is always a very real danger, no matter which religion. Both Israel's and the Palestinians' best chance for peace is to let religion be a private matter, not a state-funded project.

Anne Selden Annab

Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Irish 'Troubles' matter

In his brief review of the movie "Shadow Dancer" in the Feb. 6 issue, film critic Peter Rainer wonders why "so very many Irish-themed movies are about The Troubles" ("Sundance 2012: documentaries dominate"). The answer might be found in considering why Britain and the United States produced so many movies about World War II after 1945.

The Troubles spanned three decades and touched the lives of all those living in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought the violence and turmoil of the Troubles to a close. It is not surprising that contemporary filmmakers seek to explore the complex moral issues confronting those involved in the conflict.

I welcome films that enhance our understanding of Irish and British history and I look forward to seeing "Shadow Dancer" when it is released in Britain.

Alistair Budd

London

President is a CEO

I was offended by Walter Rodgers's Feb. 6 column "A CEO as US president? America is not a business." The president is head of the executive branch of our federal government. That makes him the chief executive officer. To imply that we don't need a chief executive officer is a misrepresentation of the responsibilities of our president.

Promoting President Obama or saying that an opposing candidate isn't qualified – that's fair game. But to imply that the role of president doesn't include being a CEO-type leader is both wrong and insulting to our intelligence.

Phil Smith

Penn Valley, Calif.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Readers Write: Islamists still dangerous; Irish history matters; US needs a CEO prez
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2012/0227/Readers-Write-Islamists-still-dangerous-Irish-history-matters-US-needs-a-CEO-prez
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe