Editor:
I have been privileged to have travelled widely and the thing that has always struck me is how we are all the same whether a goat herder in China or a wealthy white guy in Canada. Every society has families that they love or have arguments with, we struggle to make our children’s lives better, and when it gets too much we indulge in some sort of mind-altering drug. Change frightens us as do strangers or people who are different from us, but on the whole we all do what we can to help those in need. So with so much in common, why do we allow ourselves to tolerate those who promote division and hatred of those who are different? I am told it is simply expressing an opinion and that I am stifling free speech, but we all know the difference between a genuine curiosity and something darker. We cannot depend on our leaders to set an example when many of them seem to think that emulating the Donald is the way to get to power. We have to do it ourselves.
So go and talk to someone who is a Muslim, Jew, Christian or who practices voodoo magic. While you are at it, have a conversation with someone who is gay, from the First Nations, or black or poor. It’ll be interesting and a change from your usual drunken friends’ rants. When your friend or co-worker displays fears, take them to meet a nice person and have a cup of tea together. Then maybe we won’t have as many deeply troubled people who feel it is their God-given right to kill people.
Chester Machniewski, Gibsons
