In religion and politics especially, you cannot be right unless someone else is wrong, misguided, crazy, or evil. Our essential Oneness becomes veiled as everyone besides me and those who agree with me become "other" and must be convinced, converted, connived or, in some cases, killed.

I stand as one who does not believe the issues are as black and white as they so often are portrayed to be. Live and let live but protect those who cannot protect themselves is the best I can come up with.
What can we hope for but a moment in time, somewhere in time, where understanding dawns on sleepy minds that love - diversity - expression - these are beautiful things but we sometimes fail to fully appreciate the framework?
Fear based approaches to brainwashing masses is an old and tired paradigm and yet it exists still today.
Why?
There must be a reason. Is it that for those who may be on the fence to have an opportunity to be swayed?
Is it for an opportunity to experience narrow-mindedness of thought and resulting limited action?
I have no answers as a mere student in this Earth School but I do have questions, many questions and the only answers I can come up with are related to learning deeper love, tolerance and compassion as hard as that may be.

ps/smoh