ENOUGH with the hate, already
By Brenda . . . We’ve all seen the ads, the memes, the commentaries bashing “those people.” No matter what your particular persuasion is, there’s some group out there telling you that you’re all washed up, totally wrong, and that all of “your people” are haters of the worst kind and are destroying life as we know it. Yes, it’s gotten that bad. We all are feeling it.
Haters come in all colors, all political parties, and all religions. There will always be haters. But I firmly believe that the majority of Americans of all colors and parties and religions do their best NOT to hate.
Please, don’t buy into the media hype that gives hate all the attention and sucks every ounce of love out of any space we occupy. It creates a skewed picture of our world, our country, our neighbors… even our own selves.
Hating and bashing (aka “demonizing”) is juvenile and unhelpful, whether it comes from the left or the right, from liberal or conservative, black or white, religious or agnostic. Ignore it. Please! And don’t engage in it yourself.
Demonizing is what fuels the public registry. Demonizing is what makes our advocacy so difficult. I am filled with despair when I see registrants and advocates of various stripes refusing to vote because “politicians are useless.” I also despair when an advocate or registrant complains bitterly about unjust laws then turns around and votes for the very people who are making them worse.
Yes! Our political system is screwed up and needs fixing. Yes! Our justice system has damaged or even broken nearly everyone it has touched. But HATING and demonizing to the point that you throw away the ONE thing you can do — and nowadays most can, even with records — the simplest thing you can do to possibly improve your life and the lives of those present and future is self-destructive. Hating to the point of voting for candidates with proven track records of harming our cause and obstructing those most willing to help is not only self-destructive, it is a slap in the face to the thousands of us putting our lives on the line fighting for change.
Please, think carefully if you find yourself bashing “the other side” or throwing up your hands and declaring you hate “all of them.” Cut out the hate-mongering sources from your life and find something positive instead. If we cannot get rid of demonization within our OWN hearts, how do we expect to get rid of the demonization that is registration?
This is tricky because criminal justice reform and the registry is not the only issue facing our country at any given time; nor should it be.
I have yet to vote for a politician that I agreed 100% with on every issue and I would suspect that most Americans feel that way.
As for our fight, I really don’t think it’s a matter of what a politician does or does not believe. Standing up for sex offenders is political suicide; therefore, most, regardless of party or ideological stance, will never stand on our side. This is a matter for the courts, not the politicians, so I see it as a moot point when choosing whom to vote for.
Unless a politician specifically says that they are going to increase registration requirements and penalties for our population, or vice versa as part of their campaign, then NARSOL should stay out of politics. Let’s keep fighting it in the courts.
As we’ve seen recently, any law, decision, or directive can be overturned unless it’s codified as an amendment to the constitution.