Letter: Hatred won’t let light of goodness shine

From: John Vanderbur

Greensburg

It seems as though whenever I turn on the television I hear news that someone has been killed by a deranged person(s). Regretfully it has become part of everyday life as though we have been numbed by it.

And so it was on Saturday, Aug. 12, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a seething James Alex Fields Jr., 20 years of age, got into his Dodge Challenger and went down a narrow street packed with protesters and slammed into another car which resulted in the killing of Heather Heyer, 32 years of age, and injuring 19 people. In addition, two state policemen were also killed in a helicopter crash that was monitoring the situation.

This began in February 2017, when the City Council of Charlottesville voted to rename two parks named for Confederate generals, and remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. In May, white nationalist, Richard Spencer led a demonstration that was countered by protestors against them. In July, approximately 50 Ku Klux Klan members held demonstrations, and they too were countered by protesters. And so the stage was set for the August demonstrations.

The Southern Poverty Law Center described the Aug. 12 demonstrations as: “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades.”

The “haters” mainly consisted of three organizations: white nationalist, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan.

White nationalists: Hold beliefs that white people are a superior race. White nationalists want to ensure the survival of the white race. Some believe that immigration of non-whites threatens the white race and could lead to white genocide.

Ku Klux Klan: A highly racially-motivated organization. For many years after the civil war they were a vigilante group who intimidated, degraded, injured and killed blacks. They believe in the superiority of the white race.

Neo-Nazis: Have a hatred for Jews and a love for Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany. They hate those who are gay, but perceive the Jew as their cardinal enemy. Many millions of people throughout the world died in World War II to destroy Nazism.

These organizations and members of such don’t understand that the sanctity of life is inviolate. Hatred and evil lurks within their minds and the death of morality resides within them. The old expression: “As you sow, so shall you reap” is quite apparent here. There are many things that I would like to ascribe to these organizations, but the dignity of the written word does not allow me to do so.

For now, at least, the riot in Charlottesville has passed. Three people lay dead. Did we learn any lessons? Most likely not. We will just go back to our televisions and wait for the next one to happen.

Hatred is an affliction of the human spirit that will not allow the light of goodness to shine.