Appalled by Satan
Re: "The kinder, gentler Satanist" (Metro Times, Oct. 25), I'm appalled that you would write about such garbage! Satan is very much alive and enjoys people like you speaking about him in a deceptive way.
These individuals who you wrote about are going to hell in a hand basket. People are deceived and die because of the lack of knowledge. Spirituality is nothing to take lightly and it definitely has nothing to do with culture. People in this day are confused and the devil and his minions are pulling all their stops because they know their time is coming to an end. I suggest you stick to what you know about and leave that bastard Satan where he belongs, which is in hell and not on the front page of Metro Times as some kind of fictional character. —Courtney Elaine Shipp, Detroit
Christianity misunderstood
Four major reasons some people may become Satanists:
1) They see blatant hypocrisy in the many sects of Christianity and then, of course, they generalize. And with the reputation Christianity gets thanks to wealthy televangelists who never give it a rest, idiot presidents who wear Jesus like some cosmic cuff link and the millions of mistranslations of the Bible that the world has been force-fed throughout the centuries, it's little wonder people turn to the horned one for guidance.
2) They're still mad at God because God didn't let Santa give them that bike for Christmas when they were 7.
3) They need attention at any cost.
4) They need to see their name in Metro Times.
If self-proclaimed Satanists ever bothered to talk to Christians who simply believe in the teachings of Christ and try their best to apply those basic teachings to their lives without a political agenda to convert the masses to their way of thinking, they might come to realize that primitive Christianity catered specifically to the scarred, flawed and emotionally battered in the world.
Christianity is a belief system for humans and humanists if ever there was one. What did Jesus ever do to these people that was so horrible?
Next time you Satanists are careening down I-696 and have a near miss with a semi, whose name will you shout out seconds before your life passes before your eyes?
That's what I thought. —Cheryl M. Morgan, Warren
Realize the intent
Thanks for your thoughtful column (Affirmative action for ol' Jim Crow, Metro Times, Oct. 25) making more people aware that it was government policy that helped build the white middle class. I reference Katzelson's When Affirmative Action Was White frequently in my presentations against Proposal 2.
Readers may want to look at the chapter on affirmative action in Justice Stephen Breyer's new book, Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution. The battle over affirmative action is about interpretation of the 14th Amendment — the literalist versus the contextualist. The Emancipation Proclamation, 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were affirmative action programs of their time — giving preference, if you will, to slaves and former slaves over the slave owners. We need to vote no on Proposal 2 so that the intent of the 14th Amendment can be realized. —Mary Pollock, East Lansing, coordinator, Lansing Area United, One United Michigan, oneunitedmichigan.org
Marketing, not making
Re: "Slimming the Amway" (Metro Times, News Hits, Oct. 25), at least some basic level of research would be fitting, don't you think?
You wrote: "Those supplements, it turns out, are manufactured by Amway and its sister company, Quixtar."
Neither are manufacturers. They are distribution companies that use direct-sales models in both the United States and internationally. Alticor owns a very large contract manufacturing company, named Access Business Group. Access manufactures a variety of brands and private label products for both Alticor and non-Alticor companies. How someone markets what Access manufactures for them, whether nutritional, home care, printed materials or whatever else, is the marketing company's decision. Without looking further into the relationship, your speculation would appear to be the worst kind of "investigative" reporting.
You quote: "One source familiar with the case says that, considering the size of the deal — worth an estimated $20 million or more to the Michigan-based company — and the lead time required to put something like that together, it's almost certain DeVos would have had to have signed off on it before leaving the company."
Last I heard, Alticor is a $6 billion-plus company, ranking No. 25 in the Forbes list of largest private companies. It's laughable to think that the president of a $6 billion company is deeply involved in a deal that represents just a third of 1 percent (0.34%) of the company's annual revenue. Of course, putting that in context would have required your attention and perhaps five minutes on the Internet. —Tom Griffiths, Cedar Park, Texas
Frightened by DeVos
Re: "You don't know Dick" (Metro Times, Oct. 4), your article connected all the dots superbly, and I am forwarding it to everyone I know, especially the very few people who might be supporting DeVos. Living in the Grand Rapids area from 1975 to 1984, I was intrigued and outraged by the Amway twins' takeover of the city. Now, to watch what their seeds have produced is extremely frightening. Thank you so much for your excellent article and I hope it will have an important impact on the November elections. —Kathryn Wozniak, Manchester
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