Citizens must stand up against hate
The recent horrifying events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, call us all to take a stand. Evil in the guise of KKK, Nazis, white supremacists and others came to Charlottesville to spread their messages of hate, racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. They were met by those who oppose this evil in all its forms.
Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation stands with those who oppose this evil. As Unitarians, we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, justice, equity and compassion in human relations, acceptance of one another, peace, liberty and justice, and respect for the interdependent web of all existence. There is no place for hate in our beliefs.
On Friday evening, Aug. 11, as the hate groups marched with their lighted torches shouting Nazi messages, we were stunned and horrified to see that this kind of disgraceful behavior was taking place on the campus of the University founded by Thomas Jefferson. We were appalled on the following Saturday by the extreme violence and displays of hate. But it was like a stake in our heart when a young woman, who was there to stand up for justice, was brutally murdered by a purveyor of hate.
Following this outrage, Americans looked for leadership to take the moral high ground and to help heal the damage done by these vicious people, but, sadly, what we got was leadership asserting a moral equivalency between those who represented evil and those who represented good. PCUUC rejects any attempt to establish any equivalency. Hate is wrong. Bigotry is wrong. Anti-semitism is wrong. Racism is wrong. Opposition to these evils is right.
We call on all good people to join with Prairie Circle Unitarian Universalist Congregation in rejecting hate and choosing instead to stand on the side of love.
Scott Helmke, President
Board of Trustees
Grayslake