To the editor:

In response to The Journal letter to the editor entitled “We Have Leaders Who Resist Indoctrination,” it is easy to present one’s personal opinion by labeling another viewpoint as “indoctrination” and “deliberate misinformation” without anything to back the claims. It is also easy to talk about “a boogeyman that doesn’t exist” or “imagined danger” if those statements are not substantiated.

Is it indoctrination and deliberate misinformation when one quotes educational sources and organizations, teachers and the Minnesota Department of Education, so readers can make up their own minds? Are those sources boogeymen that don’t exist? Are the changes that have been suggested to the curriculum in our schools in the proposed education standards and benchmarks “imagined danger”? Are the concerns that have been raised about the shaping of our children’s way of thinking imagined? Let our leaders and readers decide for themselves.

Leaders and readers, don’t make the decision regarding something so important by discarding what someone else labels “deliberate misinformation” and “imagined danger” without consideration. The future of our children, our community, and our nation depends on making a truly informed decision as to where the real danger lies.

Mary Thom

New Ulm