The River Reporter Online - Letters to the Editor

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The River Reporter welcomes letters on all subjects from its readers. They must be signed and include the correspondent's phone number. The correspondent's name and town will appear at the bottom of each letter; titles and affiliations will not, unless the correspondent is writing on behalf of a group.

Letters are printed as they are received, or at the discretion of the editor, and without correction to grammar or spelling. It is requested they be limited to 500 words; correspondents may be asked to cut longer letters. Deadline is 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

Not long ago, I read somewhere that music is a common universal language that brings people together. The Christmas concert on December 8 at the Lumberland Town Hall, sponsored by the Lumberland Republican Club, was certainly proof of that. The town hall was packed with an audience that enjoyed Christmas songs and music performed by area artists. There to perform were the Pond Eddy United Methodist Choir, the Ukrainian vocal ensemble “Leleky” (Storks), Eldred United Methodist Church Choir, pianist Adriana LiGreci, and pianist Frank V.Schwarz who accompanied a carol sing-a-long . The concert was brought to a close by storyteller Roger Bisland who, in front of the beautiful Christmas tree, assembled all the children and read the Christmas poem,“T’was the night before Christmas.” When he finished this story, suddenly the door opened and everyone was surprised to see Santa, who, with a big happy smile wished a happy Christmas to all, and presented the children with candies.

This Christmas concert was an expression of unity, regardless of the age, nationality, political or religious affiliation. The support of the performers by the audience was meaningful and everyone shared true Christmas spirit.

The Lumberland Republican Club should be recognized and credited for the beautifully printed programs and for organizing this valuable event.

Reading the December 5 article “Islam as evil doctrine” about the newsletter put out by Calkins Union Baptist Church Pastor Jones, I feel a few items need to be pointed out. But first let me say this: I do not attend the Calkins Church. I do not know Pastor Jones. I have not read the newsletter. I have never studied Islam. That said, I find it amazing that Tom Kane was unable to find anyone who agreed in any way with Pastor Jones. Every person interviewed for the article condemned the newsletter and Pastor Jones for his opinion. Was there no one to be found anywhere to offer an opinion contrary to that of The River Reporter? Or was TRR ensuring that their opinion was easily identifiable in the news article?

Islam may very well be the “religion of peace” as many people like to call it. I don’t know. I am not an expert on Islam. But here are some observations that I have made over the past 15 months or so.

More than 3,000 people (mostly Americans) were slaughtered by 19 Muslims on September 11, 2001. A U.S. commercial airliner was almost blown out of the sky by a Muslim with a bomb in his shoe. Muslims bombed a nightclub in Bali, held more than 700 people hostage in a theater in Moscow, fired a hand gun around Los Angeles airport, beheaded a journalist, blew up a French tanker, targeted and murdered countless children in Israel, shot 13 people, killing 10, in the Washington, D.C. area, and slaughtered more than 200 people in Nigeria (many of whom were “necklaced”, which is having a tire filled with gasoline placed around their neck and set on fire) in protest of the Miss World competition.

I am not condemning all Muslims or saying that all Muslims support these actions. The truth and the facts show that they do not. Muslims do good and caring things everyday that are never reported about in the news. But the facts also show that Islam is not totally and without question solely a “religion of peace” and only that. To continuously say so does not make it true. It may or may not also be dangerous.

I’m sure that by pointing out the facts that I have, I will be accused of inciting hate, misunderstanding the “religion of peace,” and who knows what else. But the facts are the facts and the truth is the truth. Many people have blinded themselves to the facts of the past 15 months, primarily, I believe, because they are afraid of being labeled “anti-Muslim”, or intolerant. But those same people that fall over their tongues in the name of tolerance are the same ones who are intolerant of people who point the facts of the past 15 months out to them.

Rising fossil fuel energy costs are one critical reason why we should immediately transition to clean energy sources like solar and wind energy. A cleaner environment and better health are also important reasons. The rapidly growing clean energy market has tremendous potential, not only as a source of energy but also as an financial investment and an investment in our quality of life.

Oil and other fossil fuels pollute greatly, creating the smog that forces us all to stay indoors during the summer months we’d like to enjoy outdoors. Furthermore, fossil fuels blanket the planet in carbon dioxide (CO2), trapping heat in the atmosphere and thus causing global warming.

The impact of global warming will be great: the Environmental Protection Agency reports that global warming will contribute to the spread of diseases, devastate the air quality, cause flooding, and diminish the amount of drinkable water.

For these reasons, we must encourage our lawmakers to encourage the development of clean energy sources, like solar and wind power plants. These energy sources neither pollute nor cause global warming, and their large-scale use would create many jobs. By encouraging the oil industry, we are also encouraging damage to our quality of life; by encouraging clean energy, we can protect our environment and our communities.

The Lackawaxen Township Volunteer Fire Department recently hosted the annual Christmas Craft Fair. This is an event that our volunteer organization takes pride in presenting to the public. While businesses recognize the tightening in the economy, there are still those that participate in fund drives and we thank them for their true community spirit.

We wish to thank the following local businesses for sponsoring our cash raffle: Lackawaxen Telecommunications, Woodloch Pines, Shur-way Market, Ashley Chevrolet-Cadillac-RV Center, White Mills Pet Shop, Teeter’s Furniture, United Plumbing & Heating and Paupack Fuel Oil.

Congratulations to the raffle winners: Paula Brown, Bonnie Boehm and Caroline O’Brien!

A very special thank you goes out to the St. Ann’s Choir for their lovely Christmas caroling!