12A • COMMUNITY PRESS/EAST • APRIL 19, 2017
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Monroe Historic hosts Grant’s birthday dinner Few people in Clermont County could answer this question; who was the 18th president of the United States? Even fewer people know where he was born. His name: Gen. U.S. Grant; his birthplace: a one-room cottage on the banks of Big Indian Creek in the tiny hamlet of Point Pleasant. Now l95 years later, members of the Monroe Township Historic Society are preparing to celebrate Grant’s birthday with a community dinner. This event will be at 6 p.m. Friday, April 21, at the historic Mount Zion Church annex on Clermontville-Laurel Road and “we’d like to invite friends, family, and members of our community to bring one or two dishes to share as drinks, paper and plastic ware will be provided,” board member Tom Wildey said. Of course our focus will be on
the upcoming annual Grant birthday celebration at the birthplace on Saturday, April 29. Although local history is often overlooked in some our schools today, we want to encourage parents to bring their children to visit the birthplace and learn all about the little baby boy who grew up to become president. Libbie Bennett Chair, Monroe Township Historic Society Board
Here we go again Once again Mr. Randy Kleine has used the pages of The Community Press newspapers to promote his tiresome tea party viewpoint (April 5) . It is fortunate for Mr. Kleine that a majority of Americans did not hold similar anti-immigrant views when his ancestors came to this country. Terry McCoy Loveland
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Welcome to our Muslim neighbors As a passionate Christian, I believe in a God who calls us to welcome the stranger (about 90 Bible verses say so) and to treat your neighbor as yourself. There is much misunderstanding about what Muslims believe. Islam means “to submit” (to the will of God). Some of the basic tenants of Islam: Serve God by serving others. God created many different peoples so that they may learn from one another. Jews and Christians, as fellow “People of the Book,” are given special honor and respect. Charity is essential. To kill one innocent person is equivalent to killing all of humanity (Christianity also believes that it is a grievous sin to kill an innocent person and yet, sadly, some people who call themselves Christians, are not immune from this sin). “Allahu akbar,” often heard with acts of violence, is usually translated as “God is great” but more accurately, it is “God is greater than …” as an openended statement. That is, God is greater than your financial troubles, God is greater than your health problems, etc... It is also said at time of great joy or great beauty. Shari’a (“a path to be followed”) law is how Muslims should live their lives, including to honor your parents, treat your spouse and your neighbor fairly, etc. It is only for Muslims and cannot be imposed upon non-Muslims. The harsh punishments that some people like to highlight are akin to subjects in the Bible (ex. stoning an adulteress or owning slaves) not followed in modern culture. Mohammad said that people who are non-believers cannot be forced to convert to Islam. People must come to Islam of their own volition. Islam and women: Women
are considered equal in dignity and rights. Muslim women were allowed to own property in their own right, divorce, inherit Susan property, etc. Fox about 1,300 COMMUNITY PRESS years before GUEST COLUMNIST women in Europe and America. Many of the horrible things experienced by Muslim women are a result of tribal cultures, not of the laws of Islam. In the Quran, there’s an entire chapter devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus, revered in Islam. The head coving that many Muslim women wear, the hijab, is not a requirement (some cultures or countries require head / body covering). Many Muslim women do not wear it. When seeing a women in hijab, think of a Catholic nun in traditional head covering. It is a choice, as a sign of modesty. People ask, why don’t Muslims decry the horrendous acts of violence done by terrorists in the name of Islam? They do! Regularly. These rebuttals just are not as “exciting” as the stories of violence and are often relegated to the back of the newspaper. In September 2014, 120 of the world’s most esteemed Muslim scholars denounced “ISIL” as not being Muslim, but that story is not told. Get to know a Muslim personally. The Islamic Center (West Chester Township) has “Get to know your neighbor” events every second Saturday. Check out cincinnatiislamiccenter.org. Most informative and welcoming. Susan Fox is a retired landscape architect and a 31-year resident of Miami Township.
PRESS
Editor: Richard Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
Cincinnati.com/communities
Milford Schools Foundation needs your support There is a lot of discussion in the news recently about our infrastructure, about the roads, bridges and other entities that help us function as a community and a nation. While the experts will tell you these important networks are crumbling, I’d like to tell you about a piece of our local infrastructure that is rock-solid and growing. The Milford Schools Foundation (a501(c)3 nonprofit organization) has been a part of this community for over seven years and has been diligently going about the business of enriching and connecting the residents of Milford with one of our most important assets: our children. Over the past years, the Foundation: » donated $5,000 for playground equipment for the new Seipelt School; » gave $5,000 to the After Prom at Milford High School; » contributed more than $70,000 to defray the cost of all Milford third-, fourthand fifth-graders to visit iSpace, a hands-on STEMbased learning lab; » awarded more than $200,000 in teacher grants to support learning in the classroom; » annually awards a $5,000 scholarship to a deserving senior.
The Foundation works hard to link the future to the past, strengthening our community’s Linda connections Powers across generations. AnnuCOMMUNITY PRESS GUEST ally the FounCOLUMNIST dation honors distinguished alumni of Milford High School. Those alumni speak to seniors about how their experience at MHS prepared them for life and for what they are today. The alumni have many experiences to share some educational, some funny and some humbling. These alumni come from all walks of life military, entertainment, law, education, doctors, scientists, corporate world, vintage racing and farmers and have achieved success in many different forms. It makes one proud to be part of the Foundation and the Milford School District listening to their diverse stories. An honoree I would especially like to highlight is Dr. JoAnne Fley. Dr. Fley graduated from Milford in 1948. She was the daughter of Herman Fley, long-time Milford superintendent. When Dr. Fley, a lifelong educator, bequeathed
$100,000 to the Foundation to establish the Fley Family Scholarship, that gift validated the Foundation’s mission for me, and I believe all Foundation board members. If Dr. Fley had that much confidence in the organization, it must be doing something right. I have lived in Milford my entire life. I graduated from Milford having spent 12 years at Milford Main, and my husband and children also graduated from Milford. I have great memories of my years at Milford. When I was asked to be a part of the Milford Schools Foundation, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to give back to the school system I hold dear, and to somehow do my small part in building this important piece of community “infrastructure.” I encourage you to learn more about the Milford Schools Foundation’s efforts by visiting its website at MilfordSchoolsFoundation.org, and consider becoming a part of the great things going on in Milford. The Foundation needs support and funding from the community to prolong its worthwhile mission. Linda Powers is treasurer of the Milford Schools Foundation and a 1960 graduate of Milford High School.
CH@TROOM April 12 question What do you think of the decision to have the University of Cincinnati women’s basketball and volleyball teams play their home games/ matches at St. Ursula Academy’s gymnasium next year, while the men’s basketball team plays at Northern Kentucky University?
“I'd rather see them both play at Xavier University and let the Xavier teams take a year off to rest up.”
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION President Trump wants to revamp the tax code. What changes would you like to see made to the tax code? Every week we ask readers a question they can reply to via email. Send your answers to rmaloney@communitypress.com with Ch@troom in the subject line.
C.S.
“It is a shame that Riverfront Coliseum could not have been secured for both the UC men’s and women’s 2017-2018 basketball season games. Xavier’s Cintas Center would have been a nice second choice, but there were not enough open dates and of course the Cincinnati Gardens is gone. St. Ursula Academy gym can accommodate the typical crowd that attends the women’s games. This is only for one year so I suspect this will all work out. However I hope they fill that gym and there is need to secure a larger facility. Go figure!” T.D.T.
April 5 question What can be done to prevent, or make less likely, incidents like the mass shooting at Cameo Club in Cincinnati last month?
“This is a very good question with very
hard or impossible answers. Ban guns? Nope, won’t work because the evil-doers will still have them. “Close places like bars and clubs because they attract and foment evil-doers? Nope, won’t work because that kind of business hampering is just not done in America, nor should it be. “Longer prison sentences? Nope, with the overcrowding in and cost of running our prisons, sentences are shortened rather then lengthened. “For cases where the evil-doer(s) are witnessed on camera or by law enforcement firsthand and where there is a 100 percent certainty of guilt, execution in a very short time frame (enough with this 20-30 years on death row) is a possible partial solution. Did they absolutely do the crime? Plug ‘em in.” M.J.F.
You can now join the Ch@troom conversation online. Go to Cincinnati.com and type “Ch@troom” in the search window.
THANKS TO ST. URSULA ACADEMY
The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball and volleyball teams will play the 2017-2018 season at St. Ursula Academy, while UC’s Fifth Third Arena is under renovation.