Mailbag: Tree has deep roots in Surf City

On May 10, the Huntington Beach Independent carried an article (“Proposal uproots passion” on a magnificent eucalyptus tree at 1751 Main St. This tree is a true treasure that predates the city. The city has no business cutting it down. It should be preserved like the treasure it is.

Dean Williams

Huntington Beach

*

Fond memories of Mr. Atteberry

Your article on Jim Atteberry brought back wonderful memories of the many years that I taught fifth grade at Eader Elementary School in the classroom next to his (“An unlikely spotlight for teacher,” City Lights, May 3). He was a truly inspiring teacher and human being for whom I have the utmost respect and affection. He not only enriched the lives of his students, but of mine, too. Many thanks for a read that brought tears to my eyes!

Suzanne Hart

Huntington Beach

*

Key differences in Bible, Quran

Mona Shadia closes her article “God means love in Islam” (Unveiled: A Muslim Girl in O.C., May 10) by saying, “God is loving, but not all people are.”

I would have to say the author’s tone in her article illustrated that fact: not a very loving response to what she believes to be the erroneous conclusions of Christians who have, in her opinion, falsely identified the origin of the name Allah, still seriously debated by those who are willing to cite references to support their claim. Also, her assumption that Muslims worship the same God is a baseless emotional argument. The God of Islam is not the same as the God of Judaism and Christianity. Inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem explicitly deny the basic tenet of faith of Christianity, in Jesus’ own words, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall perish but have everlasting life.”

God did beget Jesus. Jesus was and is the Son of God. Muslims deny that. They believe in “a” Jesus, but not the Jesus Christ of the Bible. God is not confused. Christians and Muslims have a very different profile on God. Islam’s most blatant disregard for the clear message of the Bible is in its denial of Jesus’ death on the cross.

Let’s allow the Quran to speak for itself on this central message of the Bible: Quran, Sura 4:157-158 — “They said in boast, ‘we killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah’; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ are full of doubts, with no certain knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.” Very convenient to say “if you disagree with us you are full of conjecture and doubts.” Please be an honest journalist, Ms. Shadia, and do a bit more research before you make claims which can be so easily disproven.

The topic of your article demands a brief comment as well. You develop the idea that content in Muslim literature allows for the idea of a loving God, but the quotation above from John 3:16 (and many others in the Bible) state that God not only loves His servants, but indeed loves the whole world ... saints and sinners, friends and enemies. Muhammad did not teach love for “infidel.” I can’t help but wonder what the world would look like today if Muhammad had simply embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ when he heard it rather than cutting and pasting bits and pieces from several extant faiths to construct a new religion.

Not all people are loving, Mona ... and not all journalists are honest.

Bill Welsh

Huntington Beach