Blood shed when intolerance is perpetuated
Sunday, June 19, 2016 | 2 a.m.
... In the past two years, we’ve seen people take up arms to act out the radicalizing voices in their heads. We’ve seen murders in a black church a gunman who listened to bigoted rhetoric; communities and military bases and concert halls attacked by people listening to Islamic extremists; Latinos beaten on the streets by people listening to a presidential candidate’s hateful commentary; Planned Parenthood attacked by people listening to violent anti-abortionists. Federal law-enforcement officers have faced gunmen inspired by the radical speech of freeloading ranchers. A pizza shop and a Wal-Mart became killing grounds because of far-right conspiracies, and now, in the largest attack of its kind, the LGBTQ community has been targeted after months of rhetoric about the right to bathrooms and marriage and … you get the picture.
The unifying thread in the carnage is that abhorrent actions were taken by unstable people inspired by figures who refuse to restrain their bombast and refuse to take responsibility for it. An unbalanced person might be seduced by terrorists, but it is within our own country that he may be emboldened by the irresponsible remarks of a politician spewing thoughtless rhetoric, or the ready availability of the assault weapons adored by the National Rifle Association ...
The way we frame debates in apocalyptic terms almost ensures there will be a nonstop wave of terrorist acts and hate crimes for years to come. We have politicians accusing those they disagree with of sedition, of criminal behavior, of being “the other” who must be stopped at all costs. And there will always be twisted people ready to follow them.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/jun/19/the-blood-thats-shed-when-intolerance-is-perpetuat/
