Letter: Are We a Community or a Cause?
Audio By Carbonatix
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To the Editor:
Do you want to be part of a community or a cause?
This past Monday, I was scrolling through Facebook. I ran across a post on Neighbors and Friends from several hours earlier from what I think was a young mom wishing everyone a “Happy Columbus Day” and asking for ideas of things to do with her kids for the off school day.
I admit when I saw the reference to Columbus Day, I worried what the reaction would be. Even Governor Lamont in his post that day used both “Indigenous Peoples” and “Columbus” in wishing everyone well while posting a detailed history on the origins of Columbus Day. He did this knowing that there is a large cultural divide on top of any political divide with respect to this holiday.
My concerns for the post were well founded.
The thread decompensated into arguments about what the day should rightfully be called, criticisms of the original poster about her parenting skills and of her “audacity” at calling the term and of course, politics.
She was tried, convicted and hung more times than I could count in that thread. Others who offered opposing opinions were too. Mercifully, the thread was taken down (at least I can no longer find it) and life in West Hartford (and on Neighbors and Friends) moved on.
West Hartford is a community of approximately 64,000 people. We are fortunate that we are a thriving community offering incredible diversity and character. At last count, I believe nearly 70 languages are spoken here in town and our schools educate children from around 40 different countries.
But the only language that was common on that thread was one of judgement and isolationism.
West Hartford, we can and must do better! Over the last 60 days, I’ve learned firsthand how fraught and divided our nation and our community is. I’ve asked this question several times of several people:
“Are we a community or are we a cause?”
If you view life in West Hartford through the prism of only activism, pearl clutching, and outrage and you just HAVE TO criticize, I challenge you to do better. It’s OK for angry voices to hold silent sometimes.
These people you are critiquing are your friends, they are your neighbors, they are your children’s friends, they are your community leaders, they are your disabled, they are your small business owners, they are your needy, they are your family.
And they are your kids, learning from your example.
I think we are a community, not a cause. I’ve tried to teach my kids that and lead by example. I hope West Hartford can keep remembering even as others perhaps do not.
John Lyons
(John Lyons is a Republican candidate running for election to the West Hartford Town Council.)
Well stated,Mr.Lyons!Tolerance is necessary in today’s ever changing,shrinking world!
Yikes. Leave it to republicans to “offer opposing opinions” about a pimp who wrote this – “There are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand, and for all ages a good price must be paid.”
He was also in his own word a slaver – “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold”
Here’s what a contemporary had to say about Columbus’s rule on Hispaniola – “Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desperation. In this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk …and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fertile, was depopulated. My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write…”
What exactly are we tolerating here?
Here’s my answer: we are a community of people who have causes. It’s not an either/or choice of community vs. cause. And that’s a very good thing for a thriving community of civically (and otherwise) engaged members. You yourself write/post about your causes (a recent cause being especially honorable). If you’re disturbed by posts about causes, well, first, welcome to the Internet. While the web may not be an ideal forum for arguments, it’s still a good place to start conversations, state/dispute points of view, and, sometimes, learn something—all invaluable to a vibrant community.
I wish WH was the “community” it espouses to be. It is not. Probably never has been. Most likely never will be. All the spin does not make it so. Diversity in name only; diversity of thought curtailed. Unwelcome. It is an activist town. For better or worse. Why are all our democrat elected officials, in WH daily? Federal, state, municipal. Don’t they have bigger and better things to do? Problems to solve?
Pls add this to my comment:
Why did John Lyons shut off comments to his post? Doesn’t want feedback? Is this who this Democrat turned republicans will govern?
Imagine how all those people who repeated Charlie Kirks own words and were doxxed and lost their jobs feel. Imagine how we feel when the president says he hates us and that we are the enemy within. if you care about civility you are in the wrong party.
ALL of you have missed the point here , except Lori Bauer. I did not see the post, but it sounds like a mother was looking for something to do with her children. Some took offense to the use of Happy Columbus Day. Just consider this mother might be new to West Hartford and this is the response she gets. You should be ashamed of yourselves.