Readers write: Fighting hate in Idaho, all-hands response to hurricane, left a piece of her heart in St. John
Letters to the editor for the Oct. 9, 2017 weekly magazine.
On Sept. 26, 2017, workers continue clearing debris from the home of Houston resident Chris Slaughter, whose house in the suburb of Kingwood was flooded by 5 1/2 feet of water during Harvey's torrential rainfall.
Juan Lozano/AP
Fighting hate in Idaho
Regarding the Aug. 31 Monitor Daily article “The Idaho community that drove out hate”: This was an excellent article that showed how good thinking and acting can stop hatred, especially when a community acts together. My son and his wife now live in Meridian, Idaho, so it had extra interest for me. In the words of Mary Baker Eddy, “Love is the liberator.” Keep up the good work.
Jean Stefan
San Mateo, Calif.
The article “The Idaho community that drove out hate” is encouraging. But we shouldn’t have to wait until there’s physical violence to respond to hateful expressions. Verbal violence is also injurious, especially to young people. Organizing to defend human rights as they did is a wonderful thing, but I still wonder how we should defend the right of free speech when that speech is harmful.
DeAnne Hart
Watsonville, Calif.
All-hands response to hurricane
Regarding the Aug. 28 Monitor Daily article “In all-hands response to Harvey, lessons from earlier storms”: Thank you for sharing stories of people showing resilience, kindness, and respect for others despite their differences. We so need this in our country. Yes, please cover some of the yawning abysses of poverty and violence in our society, but keep putting successes out there, too, so people can have hope and a pathway to peace together. Thank you!
Pamela Poon
Bozeman, Mont.
Left a piece of her heart in St. John
Thank you for the Sept. 8 CSMonitor.com article “Residents of US Virgin Islands dig out and help each other after hurricane Irma.” It’s been difficult to find any coverage on St. John, especially. I visited for the first time in March of this year and of course left a piece of my heart there. It is a beautiful place with amazing people.
Kathy Boehmer
Hutchinson, Minn.