Rep. Schriver lack of understanding
(In response to: Rep. Schriver responds to criticism over social media post, The Citizen, February 17, 2024, pg. 1)
I want to commend Shelby Stewart-Soldan for the extremely well written article regarding Josh Shriver, Michigan representative for the 66th district, and including his response to being removed from committees and losing his taxpayer paid staff with fact checking. I am appalled at the complete lack of understanding about racism in his rebuttal, including blatantly false statements  and standing behind Christianity to try to support his actions.  I continue to be amazed at the number of “Christians” who choose to amplify hate against others.  I hope that his constituents consider his behavior and total lack of remorse, and vote him out of office in November.
Carol Rembor
Atlas Township

Rep. Schriver vote him out
(In response to: Rep. Schriver responds to criticism over social media post, The Citizen, February 17, 2024, pg. 1)
Thanks to The Citizen and to Shelby Stewart-Soldan for their reporting in the article “Rep. Schriver responds to criticism over social media post.” They report that our State Rep in Michigan’s 66th district, Josh Schriver, has been stripped of his committee assignments and staff. And kudos for publishing his response letter to The Citizen’s request for comment.
Now the voters can make an informed decision on our current rep if he decides to run in our district this November. Voters can read Rep, Schriver’s post for themselves.
Voters can decide if they support his views on minorities and immigrants. Voters can exam his ideas on United Nation reports on environment and demographics and decide if they agree with Rep Schriver that these reports are really schemes to replace whites with people of color. If Mr. Schriver gets on I-69 and head west to Lansing to do our work next year is our choice: a better informed one, thanks to our local newspaper, The Citizen.
Bonnie Beltramo
Brandon Township

Rep. Schriver response
(In response to: Rep. Schriver responds to criticism over social media post, The Citizen, February 17, 2024, pg. 1)
State Representative Josh Schriver and I have a lot in common. We live in the same area, graduated in the same year, and profess faith in Jesus. It was with special frustration that I read about his endorsement of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory online, as I am humbly trying to follow Jesus, and Mr. Schriver responded to criticism by centering his Christian faith. Since we both identify with Jesus, I felt an urgent need to say two things: to those who read his statement, and to Mr. Schriver.
To the reader: the fear of the “great replacement” theory–that White people are nefariously being “replaced” by people of color–is antithetical to the message of Jesus and the good news he brought. Jesus confidently welcomed all into his movement, particularly the poor and forgotten on the fringes of society. Jesus never feared that the “wrong” kinds of people would replace the “right” ones. He went out of His way to affirm the faith of traitors, prostitutes, and foreigners. To Jesus, the blessed are the powerless who show generosity to others, even though it costs them.
To Mr. Schriver: Jesus is one of those people of color you fear will replace your people. Globally, a “typical” Christian brother or sister of yours isn’t a White American, but a Black African or Asian. Even your name, Joshua, is descended from the same Hebrew name as Jesus’s (Yeshua), which means for “Joshua” in Oxford today to know “Jesus” of Nazareth, people had to fearlessly welcome people of other ethnicities into Jesus’s movement. And the best thing when you’ve done something wrong–like endorsing the ideology that leads neo-nazis to chant, “you will not replace us” –is to own the mistake and sincerely apologize.
The thing is, I used to be the type of person who would fear the “great replacement.” I have learned, though, that there is nothing to fear because an America with a majority of people of color is still authentically America–and because no matter what our neighbors look like, all people are made in the image of God. I’ve been taking “the plank out of [my] own eye,” so I can “see clearly to remove the speck from [my] brother’s eye.” You might recognize that teaching from a Middle-eastern man named Jesus.
Michael Williams
Ortonville