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If you are seeking a liberal religious home with a vital, caring, and creative congregation, enhanced by a dynamic spirit of community, we may be the church for you!
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In addition to being a UU presence in Rockport, we enjoy mutually supportive ties with our sister UU church in Gloucester, and the Mass Bay District Denomination, and are building interfaith links within the community.
GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA
February 9, 2012Letter: No need for hate speech in protests
To the editor:
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, Rockport residents were confronted with two men in front of the town post office, cheerfully distributing leaflets and standing by a poster of President Obama with a drawn-on, Hitler-like mustache.
A sign on the demonstrators' car, parked nearby, stated: "Pull over if you want to Stop Obama."
The poster was clearly labeled with the name, "LaRouche," a longtime political activist, frequent candidate for president, conspiracy theorist, and youth group organizer. The posters were evidently protesting the Affordable Care Act's consideration of end-of-life health care counseling.
Lyndon LaRouche, in a newsletter on his website, described the Care Act as "… establishing a health dictatorship for genocide," comparing it to the Nazis' T-4 Genocide Plan for exterminating Jews, homosexuals, and others.
We respect the right to demonstrate and for others to disagree. However, we question the use of symbols of hate, particularly those related to the horrific extermination of 11 million people, for what appears to be the sole purpose of generating fear and promoting discrimination.
There is no law against hate speech in the U.S., but there are codes of behavior to guide us in avoiding language and visuals that promote hatred and which could lead to violence.
We encourage those who wish to protest the Affordable Care Act to use civil and respectful expressions of their disagreement, rather than hateful language and images directed toward anyone - and specifically, the president of the United States.
SUSAN BEATTIE
and JOE RUKEYSER
Social Action Committee,
Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport