Readers Write (March 29): Protests, terrorism, abortion, lobbying, loyalty

Civil-rights activists ought to be strategic about applying pressure to change the way policing is done in Minneapolis ("Harteau's warning angers activists," March 26). Not so long ago, we had a city administration and a police chief who would have steamrollered the protest at the Fourth Precinct instead of allowing it to proceed peacefully. Who knows what kind of mayhem might have occurred but for the careful and tolerant de-escalation of tension that Police Chief Janeé Harteau engineered. The chief's pre-emptive warning has prompted a verbal outcry while establishing the clear expectation that violent protest remains unlawful. Highlighting legitimate issues that motivate Black Lives Matter and the NAACP to protest have already proven effective at changing the public consciousness as well as the process the county attorney is using to evaluate the conduct of the police. I hope that the protest leaders are smart enough to recognize that they have had a positive impact and that overplaying their hand risks losing the momentum for furthering the cause of justice.

I want to commend the editors of the Star Tribune for deciding to publish the pictures, however graphic and unappealing, of the real human suffering, tragedy and aftermath of terrorism.

For many years, too often the media has sanitized these horrific bombings and shootings to the point where we can read about the injured, dying and the dead, then flip right over to the sports page. With no emotional attachment at all.

Kind of hard not to feel anything after looking at the Star Tribune's front-page photos after Paris, Brussels and now Pakistan. Knowing that these innocent victims had fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, grandparents, nieces and nephews — just like you.

I may be wrong, but I think the world is slowly waking up to the threat of global radical Islamic terrorism. Especially when it is right in front of our eyes, thanks to our daily morning newspaper and cup of coffee.

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As an author and lecturer on Islam and Islamic societies, I can only sigh at the superficiality, error and bias represented in a March 27 letter. So in service of a more nuanced, truthful and less reactionary view, let us examine the letter writer's assertions:

Second, "Islamic schools and mosques" very rarely teach hatred of Jews and Christians any more than Catholic schools teach hatred of Protestants or Sunday schools teach hatred of Catholics. It is an established fact that fewer than 1 percent of Muslim religious schools have been captured by extremist teachers; that leaves 99 percent teaching the best of Islam. Is the letter writer implying that all or a large fraction of Muslim schools are teaching violence to Jews and Christians? If so, shame on him.

Third, the Qur'an says a lot of things. Quoting out of context and without a deep knowledge of the society, time and place it was revealed distorts its meaning beyond recognition. Ironically, this is what ignorant terrorists and Westerners do in common. To illustrate the pitfalls of such easy superficiality and picking and choosing, read the Bible, Numbers 31:17-18, where Moses commands genocide of the Midianites, and Luke 14:26 as a justification for killing all in obedience to following Jesus. And following his reasoning, how would the letter writer interpret Exodus 21:24, "an eye for an eye"?

If you search for evil hard enough, you will find it — in the mirror.

I found the photos taken at the Good Friday prolife rally to be extremely misleading (March 28, page B3). Every one of the photos taken of abortion opponents featured either a crucifix or a rosary. Actually, our movement is made up of a broad range of members — including atheists, agnostics, lesbians, gays and left-wingers. I came to my prolife beliefs at age 15 after seeing and learning about the development of the unborn child.

When the feminist movement was founded in the late 18th century by Mary Wollstonecraft (mother of Mary Shelley, author of "Frankenstein"), these courageous women and men fought for equality, the right to vote and hold property, and the right to use contraceptives. They condemned abortion, however, referring to it as "child murder." My own political leanings are left-wing feminist. And, yes, I am every bit as prolife as any other prolifer in the movement.

Local governments look on in utter dismay as legislative representatives take boilerplate legislation from ALEC and its ilk, introduce it as their own bills, and thus erode their constituents' access both to representative government and also potentially to a welter of public services. Can one blame the local governments for trying to counter this pernicious set of influences eating away at the public good?

As long as ideologically based lobbying from sources outside of Minnesota such as ALEC exist, I am supportive of local governments' efforts to do everything they can to counter this pernicious cancer on our legislative bodies.

There are children who go to sleep hungry at night and who come to school hungry in the morning. There are people sleeping under bridges. There are moms and dads working two jobs who still need food assistance and help with rent. There are parents who send their kids to school sick because they can't afford to miss a day of work or risk losing their jobs. There's war, there's poverty, there's inequity and malfeasance, and a March 26 letter writer is flipping out and has her knickers in a knot because a photo in the newspaper shows a worker at Target Field wearing a Green Bay hat. Wow.

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In these troubled times of war, partisan hatred, environmental degradation and Wisconsin expansionism, the March 26 letter writer's blast reminds us: True Gopher pride stands tall, on its little mound of dirt, in the old cornfield, forever.