Dear Editor,
In recent months, I have watched a troubling pattern grow in our community and across the country: people receiving hate-filled messages and even threats simply because their political beliefs do not align with someone else’s. Disagreement is part of democracy. Intimidation is not.
We can debate policies, priorities, and visions for the future. That is healthy. What is not healthy — and certainly not patriotic — is responding to a difference of opinion with harassment, namecalling, or threats of harm. When political identity becomes so rigid that another person’s viewpoint feels like a personal attack, we lose the ability to listen, to learn, and to live together with any sense of trust.
Threats do not change minds. They silence their voices. They shrink the public square. And they send a message that fear, not freedom, is in charge. That is the opposite of what any of us should want for our community.
We do not have to agree on every issue. But we do have to agree on this: every person deserves safety, dignity, and the right to speak without being targeted. We can hold strong convictions without abandoning basic decency. We can argue passionately without dehumanizing each other. And we can remember that political opponents are still our neighbors, coworkers, and fellow citizens.
If we want a healthier democracy, it starts with rejecting hate in all its forms — especially when it comes disguised as “political expression.” We are better than threats. We are better than cruelty. And we owe it to each other to prove it.
Susan Stone
