Don’t accept bigotry and hate spewed this election season

Editor:

A lot has changed since my youth. In my youth, Conservatives called Russians the “godless Reds.” Today, the Chairman of the Orleans Conservative Party writes that they are “predominantly white Christians.” I wasn’t aware that they had changed colors or religious beliefs.

In my youth, I was always told that it was important to use facts and data to support my argument. However, in a recent letter to the Hub a writer stated that millions of Russians have been killed in the war with Ukraine. Whether you look up the high figures or the minimum, there are no estimates even close to a million or millions that the writer asserts.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 616,300 Russian combatants have died as of Sept. 1, 2024. Russian military said that its casualties are approaching 300,000 . But who needs facts when you can make up stuff to make a point and it is even better if the point you are making is some off the chart conspiracy theory.

In my youth, any leader would have been called out for spreading racist lies. Today, Republican candidates for president and vice president are spreading vile lies about legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, resulting in bomb threats. Even though City officials of Springfield have repeatedly denied these false claims, no national Republican leader and none locally have called out these lies. And these lies are just outrageously racist.

In my youth, the statement: “The only thing standing in the way of the Democrats and the globalists is Trump,” would have been condemned by religious leaders as idolatry and blasphemy. But today there is silence. Where are the political and religious leaders today who will stand up against hate and bigotry.

William Fine

Brockport