What has happened to our society? Hate has always been around, but never have we witnessed so much hate across our Nation. Much of it has to do with fear of the unknown. Fear of people who are different and diverse.
We look at forums on Facebook and some of the hate coming from people is downright disgusting. Many are bullies hiding behind computer screens saying the most vile and disturbing things towards other human beings.
The rise of Anti-Semitism and Hate is shocking, and it must stop.
On Sunday the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission, of which I am a member, is sponsoring a March and Vigil Against Hate. The event will take place at 4:30 PM on the corner of Saint John’s Street in Monticello and end at the Sullivan County Courthouse on Broadway. Please try to join us.
Sullivan County Human Rights Chairman Martin Colavito the organizer of the “March and Vigil Against Hate” said, “I think that the only thing that opposes hate is love, consideration and inclusiveness, all things that are here I our County. It is important for us to recognize these resources and stand together to oppose hate! I truly believe that all of us, regardless of our political proclivities believe that hate has no home here. Who knows something like this may remind all of us that we have things in common to celebrate.”
Discussing Sunday’s “March and Vigil” with me, Acting District Attorney Meagan Galligan said, “We are a community enriched by diversity, including diversity of race, faith, culture, and age. Ignorance and discriminatory intolerance are beneath us and are abhorrent to our American values. Recent acts of vitriol and hate across the country should disturb each of us lucky enough to live in these United States, and compel a unified and unequivocal response: There is no place for hate, in our hearts, in our minds, and in Sullivan County.”
Galligan continued, “When we celebrate our holidays, we do so with great pride and appreciation for the traditions of our ancestors, and with great hope that those traditions will live on. The disruption of a religious holiday celebration by an act of terror, perpetrated for no reason other than religious animus, is an affront and an attack on every one of us.”
Sullivan County’s Chief Prosecutor noted, “We must defend each others rights to feel safe in public, safe at home, and safe in our places of worship. These freedoms are woven in the fibers of the flag our brothers and sisters died to protect. Inaction, or our failure to take a stand against acts of hate toward others, is dangerous, breeds indifference, and undermines the sacrifices so many have made to protect our way of life. Condemnation of these acts of hate must be public, loud and clear.”
Galligan concluded, “We are all humans and deserving of decency. We owe it to each other to respect one another, and to be positive examples for our children. If our collective voice is clear, the lessons of the history we are making will live on, and our legacy will be one of which we can be proud. This message of tolerance must resound more loudly than any message of hate ever could: There is no place for hate in Sullivan County.”
Rabbi Lawrence Zierler who will speak at the Vigil on Sunday told me, “As the Jewish People we have a heightened sense of what it means to suffer spiritually and physically. We understand powerlessness and marginality. And we are thus bidden to rid our towns and cities of those elements that allow for such physical and social injury; and to strengthen our social fabric with stiches that tighten our hold on a just society.”
Rabbi Zierler added, “Antisemitism is the world’s longest hatred. Many are the theories for what reputable studies by notable scholars have described as a visceral, organic animus and hatred, deeply embedded in certain societal groups. Hatred is also taught and modeled and caught by the disaffected, disconnected. As we move to an even more atomized world, with less financial stability for the upcoming generations, a loss of hope and confidence in government and leadership, I worry about a fractured society in which certain of the broken pieces can seriously harm and injure.”
Rabbi Larry as he is known, concluded, “Being is in relationship and relationships that benefit the commonwealth and foster friendship and understanding start and succeed at the grassroots level. Just as all politics are local, bridges to healing and growth and understanding and respecting as well as appreciating “the other” are built in our backyard. We cannot take on the world as well as we can tend to our “local garden”. But when enough good gardens of social and cultural, human and emotional understanding, care and concern, are cultivated, we can witness a splash and spread of goodness that reaches beyond our own area. Difference in dress and deportment, lifestyles and religious observance are a means to broaden our cultural horizons, and foster growth in the appreciation they bring for our myriad opportunities for human enrichment.”
We must all reflect on what we can all do right here in Sullivan County to make certain that all are treated equal no matter one’s race, creed, color, sexual orientation, ethnic background, or socio economic status.
We have a lot of problems in Sullivan County, but we cannot begin to work to solve them unless we all work together.
Please join us on Sunday for the “March and Vigil Against Hate,” at 4:30 PM on the corner of Saint John’s Street in Monticello.
Bill Liblick has made a name for himself on National TV Talk Shows where he spouted his outspoken views from the front row. Now he offers you his opinion in the “MOUTH THAT ROARS” Column in THE SULLIVAN COUNTY POST.