With all the news media about personal attacks and hate directed toward Muslims, and with the many discussions we’ve had about it on this site, religious hate has never hit this close to home. My eyes are opened now.
It’s hard to accept that people are willing to walk around with temporary signs denigrating a people. The reason these opinions persist is because of the fear and misinformation that has been making it’s way through the networks of families, friends and neighborhoods. These like- minded people support each other in their ignorance. But a person who has the damn nerve to semi-permanently post such garbage directly in front of one’s home and place of business, without any regard for the people of this faith who live and work among us, without any regard for the message he is sending to the impressionable children and teens who pass by this sign, is downright dangerous.
This is a hate crime. Freedom of speech be damned. They are free to talk about it all they want. But this is publicly posted permanent advertising for hate. I’m afraid if they get away with this, what will be next?
no social policy,not even social engineering can solve the problem of a spiritually lower soul energy.
I don’t buy it. I have come to accept 55 years of my life has been a lie.
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p>I don’t buy the 19 Muslim’s with boxcutters routine nor do I buy the Bernie Madoff globalist scam to save the earth. Out of 900 channels of highly dense TV 895 of them actively promote the 14 characteristics of fascism by using advanced subliminals and a whole host of other techniques. The lies become literally imbedded into the self destruction of the society they wish to end.
That’s what it looks like in the picture. I wonder if it would be worth anything to distribute flyers in the vicinity asking residents not to patronize that business.
Basically, a giant garage. I have no idea if folks are allowed to store non-vehicular stuff or not.
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p>It’s pretty bold to do that with your business. I’d hope that he’d have a hard time finding customers, but what can I say?
I don’t know for sure, but his business has been there for quite some time. It’s on Rte 20, a heavily traveled roadway between Palmer and Sturbridge.
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p>One unfortunate aspect of this is that I have the sense that he is a “townie”, with lots of local connections.
Because he seems to have so much courage in blatantly displaying this stuff, I worry that there is already a
large network of people who support him in this.
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p>Across the street is a sports bar called the Crossroads. A very popular place for gathering. If the first thing people see is this sign as they enter the estabishment across the street, it sort of gives permission, if you ask me, to be an a**hole with opinions and to have this hateful stuff validated simply because it’s posted semi-permanently right across the street.
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p>I hope that this gets out more and more so that it can rile some outrage and eventually cause him to take his hatred down from public viewing. While this has been reported on Masslive.com, as far as I know, it has never been reported in our local journal newspaper. I should call them and ask why not. I think I will.
Local man is a jerk. Details on Page 2. Next week, Local woman makes rude gesture to another driver after cutting her off, and Parents at Kid’s Soccer Game get Overly Excited.
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p>Zzzzz.
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p>This very thread illustrates why the very notion of “hate crime” is a pernicious and illiberal, and should be stricken from American law.
This man’s behavior encourages other behavior targeted toward a protected class. Unless the local woman is making rude gestures only to a protected class, it’s a false equivalence.
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p>Personally, I think that “hate crime” is a valid additional penalty, but that doesn’t mean that every time person of description_A harms person of description_B that it’s a hate crime. Kill a black guy because you wanted his money or he wanted your girlfriend, it’s not a hate crime. Kill a black guy because you want to send the message that black people deserve to be killed, that’s a hate crime. The difference is exactly in the paragraph above. In the former case, it’s page 2, Zzzzzz. In the latter case, an entire group of people are threatened. It’s a greater crime because it includes the murder, but also it’s designed to incite terror in a subgroup.
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p>So, why is this news? Well, it’s not commonplace. It impacts many people, some a little bit and others a lot. It’s topical and may provide insight into a growing trend in this nation and perhaps this commonwealth.
Local man a bigot AND a jerk. See page 2. IS not, say readers, see Letters to Editor. In other news, a guy brought more than 12 items to the express lane at Hanniford’s.
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p>There is no right not to be offended. The right to offend other people protects this guy, the pastor in Florida, flag burners, the KKK, the Westboro Church people, as well as ACT UP and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
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p>”encourages behavior” is an if, and, or but large enough to consume the entire first amendment.
I haven’t argued that he hasn’t the right to post it, nor have I argued that there is a right not to be offended.
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p>However, offending enough people is newsworthy, just as the Florida pastor, flag burners, the KKK, and the Westboro folks are newsworthy when they’re out in public exercising their rights.
I think at least subconsciously we want to tell ourselves that nobody we know or who lives close by would ever hold such offensive opinions. Around here I think we tend to ascribe such views to other parts of the country as well.
It’s the sort of thing that only happens on television. It’s a safety net we foolishly envelope ourselves in. This was very shocking to me, and makes me feel uncomfortable and at risk for being placed in the middle of a violent act just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My children too. I think that is probably not likely to happen, but it’s still in the back of your mind.
But the biggest difficulty I have with this is that one of our local small business owners, and his family, are Muslim. They live and work just miles away from here. They are good-hearted, generous people who are proud of and help to care for our community. It’s awful to know they have to face this sort of thing. It is just so wrong.