12/4 Letters: Trump’s anti-Muslim actions ‘deserve censure’

Regarding “Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos” (Nov. 29): In the 1990s I was lucky enough to serve the U.S. government as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small Muslim country in Africa. I was posted as a solo volunteer in a remote village. Telephones and mail service were an hour away by car and the American Embassy an arduous eight-hour journey. Over the course of my three-year stay I was treated with kindness, compassion, and respect by strangers as well as friends.

Hearing of President Trump’s most recent bitter and ignorant tweets of Islamophobia, I think of my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer. I also think of my Muslim coworkers, neighbors and friends who are here in the United States. It is not exaggeration to say that he puts them at risk of violence. Trump’s actions deserve the highest condemnation. They deserve censure from his fellow citizens, from our elected representatives and the world. Where are the voices of Senators Burr and Tillis and North Carolina’s Congressional delegation on this issue? I look forward to hearing from them.

No giving ‘guilt’

Regarding “ ‘Giving Tuesday’ questioned” (Nov. 29) about the outgoing president of Raleigh’s right-wing Civitas Institute’s attack on “Giving Tuesday” as a “leftist idea” that relies on “guilt” to motivate people to give to charities: the Civitas president not only insults those who give, he undermines a core value that some would call a defining characteristic of the better side of humanity. He doesn’t stop there, though; he goes on to unethically distort the views of those on the political left by stating in his own fundraising email that “the phrase ‘give-back’ comes from the leftist idea that individuals can’t achieve success on their own; that successful people must have taken advantage of others to get where they are; and that they have an obligation to ‘return’ some of their wealth to those they took it from.”

As a North Carolinian who is both “successful” and on the political “left,” that statement is as outrageous and inflammatory as it is false. I know of no one on the political left who harbors such a belief. I certainly did not take advantage of anyone to get where I am, yet I choose to donate a portion of my earnings to charitable organizations and causes simply because I was raised with the belief that it is the right thing to do. Am I motivated by guilt? Hardly. Am I motivated by a sense of compassion for those who are less fortunate? You bet I am.

‘Money to burn’

Regarding “Raleigh unveils $226,000 new logo” (Nov. 10): Wow, $226,000 for a new logo for Raleigh. For that kind of money, maybe the city would have been better served by a high school art class.

May I suggest a logo of a $100 bill on fire, with the slogan, “money to burn.”

This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "12/4 Letters: Trump’s anti-Muslim actions ‘deserve censure’."