Intolerance

Though all have the freedom to speak or write their opinion, a responsible and journalistically sound newspaper will not print horrifically racist and intolerant letters. Not a newspaper in America in the 21st century. Not after a century of racism and intolerance that lead to at least seven major genocides. Responsible journalism does not fan the fires of intolerance and racism and so I am shocked that the News-Press printed the invectives Paul Carney unleashed upon the Armenian community of Glendale on Jan. 16. Has the Glendale News-Press stooped so low as print such things to attract readers?

Fighting terrorists takes courage and intelligence. Hate crimes are dumb and cowardly. Know your enemy! The turban of a Sikh is totally different than that of an Afghani, Moslem or a Tuareg (Sahara region). The Palestinians wear the headdress like Yasser Arafat. The Indonesian Moslem wears the Kopi, a cap usually made out of velvet. The Taliban clerics have distorted and dishonored the Islam religion with their messages of hate and intolerance. Then I heard Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson -- neither wears a turban -- spewing hate and intolerance.

Armenian National Committee of Glendale Our Glendale community has been beset by yet another senseless tragedy with the fatal stabbing of Hoover High School student Raul Aguirre. Consequently, we forlornly add the name of Raul Aguirre to far too many other youths, like "Avo" Demirchyan who died of a gun shot wound in 1998, in the city whose tragic fate illustrates the need to redouble our collective efforts to eradicate ignorance, violence and intolerance.

Jerry Lane's column pointed out idiot drivers on our freeways, but Glendale has a far worse problem. There is an overt intolerance, impatience, rudeness and downright dangerous driving and pedestrian behaviors exhibited by a few in downtown Glendale that threatens the very desirability of living here. I and my wife have experienced fist waiving, blatant tailgaters impatient at my prudent speed -- which is usually speed limit, two instances of someone just walking off the sidewalk in traffic where I had to slam on the brakes, aggressive lane changes and pulling into traffic without regard to oncoming traffic.

Columnist's lesson on tolerance applauded Thank you [to Dan Kimber] for the excellent article you wrote in the Dec. 5 News-Press. Not only did you share the human side of who gay people are, but you also showed the homophobic reaction of students and a parent for what it is -- intolerance of other human beings. I applaud you for helping your students to understand this important issue and doing it in a way that helped them to learn from the tragedy of history.

I am so glad to read that the hate-mongers advocating for recall have failed in their quest to bring their ugly brand of politics to Glendale. As one who has had to endure the letters of Mr. Manus, Ms. Kussman and their ilk, I am glad to see that the wonderful people of Glendale have sent these people packing. May I suggest they move their ideology to another city, as this one has rejected their intolerance and bigotry. It would truly be a sad day when the likes of these people come to define how any of us express our patriotism.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said in a speech to foreign ambassadors recently that the return of intolerant religious faith is the biggest challenge facing the world — on par with the dangers of climate change. Do you agree? How do you draw a line that distinguishes your faith while keeping it away from a path toward intolerance?   The French president is on to something. Religious intolerance is a big threat. While it would be easy to point fingers at the Taliban in Afghanistan who blew up two ancient statues of Buddha, we Christians have our own history of intolerance.

It is becoming increasingly frustrating to watch the polarization that is occurring in our nation and in our community. Letters like Bob Tanabe's last week do nothing to ease the tensions. I too have yard signs in my front yard. So far three have been stolen, again in the middle of the night so the culprits are anonymous. However, my signs support John Kerry. So it would seem that "liberals" do not have the monopoly on yard terrorism. My car, with Kerry stickers, has been egged twice in La Cañada.

If I hear anything else about the lowering of the American flag, I think I'm going to pull my hair out. I know America is a melting pot and we celebrate cultural diversity here. It's fine to remember and love one's country of origin but, as the old expression goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." T The American flag should be lowered only for things that happened to Americans. We're on very dangerous ground here. America has come very far in a short time and the kind of mass intolerance directed toward immigrant groups in the past is almost unheard of today, at least on the scale that it once was. Most cultures tend to stay close when they go to a new place.

My dear friend recently returned from U.C. Santa Cruz to La Crescenta to attend the ceremony celebrating her, her mother's and her brother's new U.S. citizenship. She is proud and happy to have this official validation of the only national identity she remembers. She is majoring in American studies, fascinated with the political process, and excited about voting. My friend was an American long before the process that declared her as one; she attended and contributed much to local schools from kindergarten through her senior year, she cared for our community's children at the YMCA, and she volunteered her time and energy to benefit us all through programs as diverse as voter registration and feeding the homeless.

At a time when the bottom line for all real estate development in Southern California needs to be sparing use of water, many Glendale projects propose to build and landscape extensive and very steep hillsides. Retention on such slopes is minimal, requiring frequent applications of water. When the prospect of rationing is looming and has already been implemented in many of the surrounding municipalities, shouldn?t our City Council and the various boards and commissions have had the foresight to have planned for such an event in Glendale?

Last week’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., exposed that the nation’s virulent strain of racism and racial hatred continue decades after the civil rights movement. What role should religion play in the ongoing effort to stamp out racism? And how, if at all, have churches failed in that effort so far? It is interesting that this week’s issue opens the door to the blame game. For example, virulent racism is back, so is the church somehow at fault?

With the first black president-elect, the United States has made a leap forward in dealing with extreme prejudice, but to think that intolerance over race, gender or sexual orientation is history would be wrong. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Chief of Field Operations Region One Neil Tyler, hate crimes and prejudicial thinking are still very much a part of our society. According to reports, L.A. County hate crimes increased by 28% in 2007, while the rest of the nation showed a decrease.

Video of teenage gunmen roaming the halls of Columbine High School sparked compassion Wednesday from Wilson Middle School students, drawing a few tears from the young audience. “My friends are still crying,” Nazik Sldryan, 11, said after a moving presentation on kindness and compassion that was inspired by Rachel Scott, the first student killed during the shooting. The Wilson PTSA sponsored the event, which brought the Rachel Scott Challenge — the nation’s largest school assembly program — to the school for two assemblies, a training session on practicing kindness and an evening event for parents.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has developed a mobile teaching station in an effort to educate children on the consequences of hate and intolerance. Chief Neal Tyler of the sheriff’s field operations Region One, originally conceived the program. “Chief Tyler came up with this idea to reduce hate crimes in the [Region One] area,” said Sgt. Ray Harley of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, which serves the foothill area. According to Harley, Region One, which includes Palmdale, Lancaster, Altadena and Crescenta Valley, has the highest reported incidents of hate crimes in L.A. County.

Mischaracterization of issues and legislation is typical of those opposing any so-called "gay agenda," and Fred Akers' letter about three California bills proves him no exception ("Candidate's support of bills trouble reader," June 2). Akers describes Senate Bill 1437 as requiring explicit study of "lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-genders in our society," and erasing "traditional distinctions of gender or sexual standards." What the bill actually says is that social sciences shall include an "age-appropriate study of the role and contributions of both men and women, Black Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Islanders and other ethnic groups, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender," and that no instruction or materials shall "reflect adversely" upon any of these groups.