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Readers write: Mealtime memories, prisoner empathy, violence and children

Letters to the editor for the July 24, 2017 weekly magazine.

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DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS/FILE
AFTER A ROYAL DECREE, 2,700 WOMEN PRISONERS ARE RELEASED FROM BANG KWANG CENTRAL PRISON IN BANGKOK, THAILAND, DEC. 8, 2011.
  • By Julie Freeman Monitor reader
  • Jason Renard Walker Monitor reader
  • Ingrid Hogle Monitor reader

Mealtime memories

Regarding Marjorie Kehe’s June 12 Home Forum essay, “Breakfasts that nourished my dreams”: It was so well written and full of nostalgia and heartfelt sentiment. It reminded me of when my mom would set the large dining room table with our set of state-themed dinner plates, which contained lots of info on each state: state capital, state flower, famous person, etc. So my two siblings and I grew up with a geographical travel bug! I’ve been to most in my 76 years, except some in the South. 

Thank you, Marjorie, for all the book reviews as well. They are very enriching indeed.

Julie Freeman

Palo Alto, Calif.

Prisoner empathy

Thank you for your June 12 cover story, “The story of prisoner 5770102414.” Being a published writer, activist, and advocate against the mistreatment of prisoners, I could only empathize with Prontip Mankong. Ms. Prontip, you are not alone; as someone who is currently incarcerated in Texas, I salute and support you and your efforts. Your fight should be everyone’s fight – solidarity has no borders. Thank you for not being afraid to share your story with the world.

Jason Renard Walker

Amarillo, Texas

Violence and children

As the mother of a 5-year-old, I want to thank you for the June 19 OneWeek article “In facing terror, a little humor helps.” I am deeply troubled that President Trump advocates fear of “others” and that his proposed budget asks Congress to prioritize aggression over diplomacy. Drastic cuts to international diplomacy and programs that relieve suffering while increasing military spending seem to be a recipe for war. I hope that Congress will instead choose a path of compassion, tolerance, and diplomacy. Otherwise, I hope that I have the strength and character to use humor to explain what may be a violent future to my son.

Ingrid Hogle

Oakland, Calif.

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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.

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