As I read the comments on my Facebook statement where I ask for courage, strength and love to prevail, comments that are spawned from hatred and fear, I am afraid for this beautiful country that I love with all my heart.
As a female of Irish, Scottish, Polish, English and French decent I want to remind very Canadian that our forefathers all came from somewhere else.
As I look back at the history of my family, I realize that some fled the potato famines, some fled persecution and all came here looking for opportunity and a better life, I am sure you can look at your family's past and see similar things.
Even our First Nations people came from somewhere else before they settled in Canada. Our First Nations peoples have inhabited this country for some 10,000 years.
I ask you to look at the beginnings of this country we call Canada….. First Nations people were slaughtered, and treated horribly by those who came here seeking a better life, not by all, but by some. And see the divisions, the misunderstandings, the hurt and yes hatred this has caused for many.
I believe that we need to continue to strive to be better people than our forefathers were.
Did we learn nothing from our past? Is history always going to repeat itself?
I believe with all my heart that our government needs look after those who already live here much better than they do. I believe we need stronger immigration policies that help us weed out the bad apples BEFORE they arrive here. I believe that we need to look after our veterans, soldiers and their families better than we do. We need to hold our politicians and bureaucrats accountable far better than we do.
I believe ALL OF THAT – HOWEVER…I have some questions to ask of those who are overcome by fear and hatred….
If I said that all Irish Protestants are violent because of the actions of the IRA or some members of the Orange party in Toronto between 1867 and 1892, would I be right? My great grandmother’s family was Irish Protestant ; none of them was party to any of that, as far as our family history allows us to know.
If I said that all Canadian Frenchmen are divisive and ignorant because of the politics of men like Gilles Duceppe would I be right? My uncles and aunts that I just came home from visiting are for the most part, pretty open minded Frenchmen. They accept this English speaking westerner and between my broken French and their broken English we get along quite well.
If I said that all Polish people were members of organized crime because of the conduct of those who were members of the Pruszków mafia would I be right? My great grandma’s family on my dad’s side was Polish, but in none of their history can I find any reference to them being party to organized crime.
If I said that all Protestant Scotsmen were gang members and criminals because of the conduct of members of the Billy Boys of Brigton Cross, a Scottish Protestant gang, would I be right? Far as I know my great grandfather and grandfather, Scottish Protestants, were farmers, loggers, but no where in their history can I find a connection to the gangs that divided Scotland in the 1920’s and 30’s.
If I said that all Cops are drunks and murderers because of the actions of people like Monte Robinson would I be right? My uncle Serge was a cop for over 35 years; he was and is a moral man, the same with my adopted uncle, Rick.
If I said that all priests were pedophiles because of the conduct of Father Eric Dejaeger, would I be right? My great uncle Armand Plourd was a priest. As far as I know he never molested anyone and was in fact a good man.
If I said that all Grey Friars were child molesters and pedophiles because of the conduct of Brother Stephen Baker would I be right?
My uncle Christopher was a Grey Friar, and as far as I know, he was not a child molester.
If I said all who ride motorcycles are criminal in nature because of the actions of some members of some clubs, would I be right? I ride a motorcycle; I do not view myself as a criminal.
You see if I bought into any of the above statements, my entire family, from every nationality, every walk of life would have to be condemned as “BAD”; myself included.
We can’t say all Italians are mobsters or all Germans are Nazis.
We can’t say that all Muslims are extremists and murderers.
Generalizations, profiling cause a lot of harm to those who do not fit the generalization or profile. We as riders fight it all the time.
What we CAN SAY is that we, the human race, are composed of people who commit acts of kindness and acts of brutality. We CAN SAY that there are good people and bad people in every walk of society, all around the world.
Organizations like Isis, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda etc. win when we let fear take over. When we profile, the cowards & bullies win. When we generalize, the cowards & bullies win.
When we use generalizations to describe any group of people we do a disservice to all people including ourselves.
You see they, ISIS et al, want the moderate Muslim to turn to them when we “Westerners” start targeting the moderate Muslim as if they were the same as the offenders. Through our hatred and fear, violence perpetuates and we will add to their numbers until they become powerful.
Again I will state: I believe with all my heart that our government needs look after those who already live here much better than they do.
I believe we need stronger immigration policies that help us weed out the bad apples BEFORE they arrive here.
I believe that we need to look after our veterans, soldiers and their families better than we do.
We need to hold our politicians and bureaucrats accountable far better than we do.
I am not saying open our doors wide to all, I am saying open our doors after a thorough screening, do everything possible to protect our country and its values but don't close the door on all because some are assholes. If we closed doors to all because we are afraid of a few, I wonder how many Germans, Poles, Jews, Irish, Scottish, French and English people would live in this melting pot we call Canada.
We need to remember that above all, be you black, red, white or purple, be you Christian, Jew, Muslim, Protestant or Catholic – we are all people first and to generalize, to profile is wrong.
We riders know that better than most.
WE NEED:
Courage - we need to have courage, to exhibit courage.
One definition of courage is: "strength in the face of pain or grief." Another is
"the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation."
Tolerance - we need to have tolerance, to exhibit tolerance.
One definition of tolerance is; the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behaviour that one does not necessarily agree with.
Caution - we need to be cautious, to be protective.
One definition of caution is: care taken to avoid danger or mistakes.
A wise man once said:
When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it-always. Mahatma Gandhi
He also said: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
That's how I see things, what say you?
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
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