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Letters to the Editor

Censorship is authoritarian overreach

Tim Knickerbocker, Minot I expressed my concerns expressed here in a letter to Governor Burgum. I am writing to you to express my concern with the direction the state of North Dakota is turning to censorship of all forms of media available to the public. House Bill 1205 and Senate Bill 2360 are designed to censor the citizens of North Dakota. These bills are saying to the residents, “you are not intelligent enough to make ‘good’ judgement on the media your family members access.” Therefore, the State will enforce the States judgement on what is right and wrong ...

Tell legislators: Bans off my books

Paulette Nelson, Minot House Bill 1205 (relating to public libraries from maintaining explicit sexual material) and Senate Bill2360 (relating to obscenity control, and to provide a penalty for librarians whose libraries contain these supposedly obscene materials) will effectively ban books that I or someone else might want to read. For example, I may want to check out the Bible but if this bill passes as written, libraries will have to remove this book because of all the references to torture, nudity, (they are okay with murder), incest, idolatry, and unwed pregnancy to name a few. ...

Not all Lutherans are Lutheran

Pastor Nate Walther Grace Lutheran Church (WELS) Minot Recently in a letter to the editor (“Support Legislation that Reflects North Dakota Values”), a number of Christian clergy supported pro-LGBTQ+ legislation, the majority of which were Lutheran clergy. I was not among them, and I wish to respond to the letter. This letter said, “we believe Jesus preached a Gospel that embraces the marginalized,” and it heavily implied the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is in harmony with what the Bible teaches. Unfortunately, they didn’t cite the Bible at all, which is a curious omission ...

Child care workforce needs long-term solutions

Mohamed Hussein Vice President, Jasmin Child Care and Preschool Fargo This week, the Senate passed SB 2301 to supplement wages for child care workers whose median wages, $11.19 in 2021, barely hover above poverty. The passing of the bill is promising and we are grateful; unfortunately, legislators funded the bill far short of the plea of $150 million from the child care experts. The state House has the opportunity to address this shortfall. Child care is critical to North Dakota’s economy and directly correlated to the state’s workforce. Child care providers are ...

Argumentum ad populum and God’s Word?

Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard Minot Argumentum ad populum is an informal fallacy that bases its assertion (i.e., supposed truth) on what the supposed majority thinks. Unfortunately, the recent Feb. 18th letter to the Editor, “Support legislation that reflects ND values,” goes the way of argumentum ad populum. In other words, by listing approximately 30 religious leaders from North Dakota at the beginning of the letter, the long list of names gives the reader the impression that most North Dakota religious clergy support the submitted letter. Alas! Let us all be aware ...

Ridiculous bills need defeat or veto

Clarence F. “Rick” Olson Fargo North Dakota lawmakers are racing towards the half-way mark of the current legislative session in Bismarck. What they call the “crossover.” That is the point of the session where every bill and resolution must have been passed or defeated in the house of origin. In the second half of the 80-day session, the House will take up all Senate bills that were passed, and the Senate will take up all House bills that were passed and the process starts over again. There have been many ridiculous bills come up this session. Quite frankly, as ...