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What does it mean to be 'woke?'
To the Editor:
Let's examine what it means to be woke. A person who is woke is likely to believe that racism occurs in our country. As a result of that racism hundreds if not thousands of people were lynched or brutally murdered. A woke person might believe that native Americans were the victims of genocide. A woke person might believe sometimes our country unjustly invaded other countries to devastating effect. A woke person might believe that working people used to work under close slave-like conditions and that unions brought decent pay and working conditions. I think you get the idea.
Yet a woke person can see the many shortcomings of our country and still love it and work to make it better. Not by hiding our heads in the sand. How can we see the spec in our neighbors eye when we have a log on our own? It doesn't lead us to hate ourselves but lets us see a brighter future.
The opposite of being woke is being asleep. Pretending we can do no wrong. Being woke is being smart. So if someone accuses you of being woke, say "Thanks!"
Timothy Dunmire
McVeytown
Harboring a grudge for mainstream
Mr. George Fisher, in his letter published March 22, accuses me of distorting facts in my earlier rebuttal to a letter of his. Having re-read my letter, I plead innocent: anything that I stated as a fact is based on information that I believe credible. What I will plead guilty to is improper inference of his beliefs. (Letters to the Editor usually include facts, beliefs, inferences and opinions.) He did not, as I said, "claim universal religious support for LGBT rights." What I should have said was that it sounds like he believes that anti-LGBT rights is the predominantly Christian view. I have no idea whether he is correct or not.
Mr. Fisher seems to harbor a grudge against Christians, for instance as when he says, "Christians ignore the rights of other religions." I agree that some Christians "ignore the rights" of other religions, whatever that means, but I would ask him to be fair by acknowledging that some Muslims are not too good at accepting Christians in places where they (the Muslims) hold all the cards. Traditions that he accuses Christianity of "stealing" from other religions are, in my opinion, simply things that add to its appeal, and that they have accepted these things is no crime in my book. Many people accept others' beliefs, not with criminal intent, but out of happy concurrence.
My last inference is that Mr. Fisher considers me a fool for "not having my facts straight," and he may consider me to be a fool for being a Christian (if I know I am).
John Brittain
Lewistown