Modi and Shea

How ironic that on the same day the Spokesman-Review reports on the Liberty State Gala, there is a very thorough piece covering the concerning, and outright horrendous, events unfolding in India under the prime ministership of right-wing populist Narendra Modi.

Discouraging tourists from visiting the Taj Mahal because of its Muslim connection? Assassinations of secular intellectuals? Mob killings of people suspected of selling beef? It staggers the mind that this is even possible in this day and age.

Yet, right here in our own backyard, the very seeds for this type of behavior are being planted. Matt Shea and his ilk (supported, sadly, by several other local officials) clearly share this very same ideology of gross intolerance. Anti-science, anti-racial minority inclusion, anti-LGBT, anti-non-Christians, and most frighteningly, very pro-violence to achieve their ends, this group represents the very worst of what it means to be human.

And please, enough of the denials on his part - you are what you repeatedly have said, and you are who you associate with.

Even if I were in agreement with most of someone’s political take on issues, if they felt that their geographical region, regardless of its size, was reserved only for those adhering to their narrow belief system predicated upon an even narrower interpretation of a religious institution, I would be appalled. This is the very thing our Founding Fathers worked so hard to avoid, and something we in turn must do our best to reject with equal passion, wisdom and foresight.

Warren Wheeler

Nine Mile Falls