Letter: Virtue signaling on hate only produces more hate
– The Rally Against Hate in Templeton and the Board of Supervisors’ proclamation against hate was truly only virtue signaling. It was not at all designed to end polarization and enable civil behavior in public hearings. The proof of this was shown at Tuesday night’s Templeton Unified School District Special Meeting. The same people who rallied against the out-of-town agitators at the Templeton bridge were there to slander, smear, lie about, and humiliate members of the public. And this was done especially against members of Moms for Liberty who were at the meeting to protect all children. One of the individuals who attended the rally against hate and is a frequent speaker at school board meetings interrupted me, made highly emotionally charged remarks, and directly attacked a member of the school board. This is never acceptable.
The Board of Supervisors who voted for the proclamation and the organizers of the Rally Against Hate really define haters as anyone who disagrees with them politically. Hate is never denounced when progressives marginalize, dehumanize, humiliate, and verbally abuse those of us who are conservative. But the progressives feel free to do exactly that when it comes to Moms for Liberty. Frankly, our objective at the meeting was just to speak in support of the needs of all students, especially religious students who are absolutely left out of discussions of equity, inclusion, and diversity.
The hate in the county will never end as long as one side is totally in denial about their contribution to the divisiveness in the community. All of us can and should present our ideas at board meetings without making personal attacks or questioning the motives of other people. My approach as a member of Moms for Liberty was just a request to make sure that students who preferred not to be in bathrooms or locker rooms with members of the opposite sex got their rights respected. That’s it. There is absolutely no reason to impugn our motives, lie about our positions or have to sit there and be vilified by progressive activists. I would very much like to see the Board of Supervisors make a proclamation against that type of hate also. That would do a lot more to encourage people to get along. When you are part of a group that feels it is exempted from the proclamation it only promotes more hate in the long run. Virtue signaling on hate only produces more hate.
Sincerely,
Gary Lehrer
Templeton
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