To the Editor:

Does Jackson County want to be a place where some citizens publicly harass and intimidate elected officials with whom they disagree? How long before harassment becomes vandalism and even assaults? Too often, far-left individuals who, when they do not win at the ballot box or in the arena of ideas, resort to these types of behavior and worse. 

In a recent local social media post, a call went out to members of that community: “We make them ashamed to be seen in public. We make their lives difficult by any means one feels comfortable with, and I do mean any means, which will vary by person — do what ya feel is necessary! It is to the point now where it’s us or them. They have positioned themselves as opposed to community spirit that we hold so dearly. They are literally ruining our community, which ruins our property values and our quality of life here. FIGHT! Be activists! It shouldn’t be so easy for them to be such bigoted ignoramuses. We confront them and record their responses. We make them uncomfortable to be seen in public spaces as the people they have marginalized already feel. We see them out to eat and we question them, call them out and film them. We make their jobs difficult by clogging up their voicemails, emails and fax machines on a daily basis. We talk to their neighbors and find out who supports us, then put signs in their yards. There is so much more!!! All activism approaches are welcome. Let me know if you are interested, and rate your risk tolerance on a scale of 1-10, 1 being sending polite emails, and 10? It’s up to you.”

This type of behavior is bullying and thuggish and should be beneath any responsible adult. When did we go from hating an idea to hating the person who holds the idea?

If you see this type of bullying behavior going on in public places, I encourage you to stand peacefully and silently between the bullies and the individuals or families being targeted. As a community we must be better than this. No one wins hearts and minds by yelling in the faces of others, or by demanding their will be done regardless of the will of others.

There is a now long-forgotten thing called compromise. The people doing the screaming have forgotten that the principles, values, beliefs of others matter also. The library debate gives us an opportunity to unite the community to achieve results that reflect input from all sides.

Keith Blaine
Sylva