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Score One for the Grinch in Durham, New Hampshire
 Letter to the Editor November 20, 2019 Dear Friends, Earlier this week the Durham, New Hampshire town council cancelled their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and the hanging of street decorations downtown, then renamed their event "Frost Fest," allegedly after a private citizen complained to them that the decorations were "offensive." Are you kidding me? So much for the state motto, "Live free or die." Even in today's mixed up, inside out, upside down world I had to do a double-take after reading this decidedly un-American announcement. Where does it stop? We must name and fight insanity whenever and wherever we find it or it will inevitably lead to our collective ruin. If we don't speak out, we risk the very real possibility that our nation and cultural heritage become lost and unfamiliar to us. As a native-born New Hampshire former resident and 1980's UNH Durham undergraduate and graduate degree holder, I'm stunned by the town council's blockheaded and flat-out wrong overreaction. Especially in today's highly polarized society, does anyone really believe achieving 100% consensus on anything (other than the possible exception of lowering taxes) is ever possible? We must not abandon our hard-fought rights, fundamental principles and cherished traditions that enrich us alike as individuals and as a community simply because someone chooses to take offense. After all, what's the problem? Taking offense is a choice. In my counseling practice I gently urge those with the hair-trigger habit of being easily offended to straighten out their reactive "crooked thinking" and thereby stop upsetting themselves to everybody's betterment. Stubbornly refusing to be reactive requires those taking offense to work on increasing their emotional intelligence by actively practicing tolerance of others. It further requires learning to live and let live with dignity and respect, as has been practiced by every generation of Americans going all the way back to our country's founding. We all know that many of the colonies original settlers emigrated to this country for the express purpose of enjoying religious liberty, then commonly considered the most precious right of all, reflecting an enduring and deeply-held piousness still shared by many of us today. People will always have differences of opinion. Suffice it to say, allowing a minority of disgruntled citizen's to dictate public policy for all is misguided and contemptibly stupid, standing against the very principles on which democracy is founded. During my service as a U.S. Marine, it was understood by all who served that our purpose included helping to ensure the safekeeping of the very rights, values and traditions that define us as a people and a nation, including the practice of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. To get along best in this world, each of us must learn to respect our differences and the beliefs of others unlike our own, religious or otherwise, and safeguard the expression of those beliefs without interference so long as they are legal and cause no real harm to anyone. And not just in Durham, but in every town or city in America wherever attacks on our basic rights and precious principles which have guided our nation from its very beginning hazards to raise its ugly head. Thus even as we seek to make the circle bigger to reasonably include everyone, we must stand steadfast in vigorously protecting our values from those who would take away our individual and collective rights to freely express our culture and traditions as they have been practiced in America for hundreds of years; for personal expressions as such are ultimately what give our lives meaning. Otherwise, it won't be long at all before we find ourselves devolving into a joyless, valueless and soulless people. Think about it. I therefore urge the Durham Town Council to immediately reverse their Grinch-like decision to cancel the lighting ceremony and placement of decorations, and to unflinchingly refer to the event for what it is and has always been: The Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. In the spirit of the season, let us dare to imagine and strive to create a world of inclusivity, peace on earth, and good will towards all! (Signed) Michael Ra Bouchard, Ph.D., Hilo, Hawaii Posted by: trailing wife 2019-12-08 |
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