DEATHS IN A CULTURAL WAR

The deaths in a gay nightclub in Orlando were horrible, tragic, appalling. Words are not enough to describe how I feel.

I believe very strongly that each and every one of us are of equal importance in making our country and our world a vibrant home for us all.

It takes a really crazy person to kill people who are dancing in a club. It is almost impossible to stop a crazy person who decides to kill groups of unarmed people. This particular crazy person had been a security guard at a courthouse. It was easy for him to buy guns.

I also believe very strongly in freedom of speech. This belief means that I will not stop the hate radio that spews nasty words about gays, about women, about minorities, about Muslims.

But people can hold advertisers responsible for the deaths that result from such speech. This is done by not purchasing their products.

People who come to modernized countries from poor rural countries can have a hard time adjusting to their new country. Rather than hate them for their cultural conflicts, we need to teach them how our country offered them a safe place to live, because we believe in treating everyone equally. Parents can help by explaining that, in this new country, people have to follow new rules of living.

But prejudice against LGBTs is HUGE. It was not so long ago that the US was putting people in prison for homosexual acts.

The best way to fight back is to reopen the nightclub and PARTY ON. To close the nightclub is to allow the crazy person to win.

Israelis brought babies to eat in the restaurant where people had died the day before. Life goes on, they said. We win by living our lives. The French reopened the nightclub where a massacre took place.

DO NOT LET FEAR CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS!