Dear Sir:
In light of what happened in Quebec recently, the killing of innocent people because of their religion and around the same time, American President Donald Trump’s executive order stopping people coming in from certain countries, perhaps we need to reflect.
That is, reflect on why those things happened and how to prevent them.
Since I was born in Germany and arrived in Canada in 1976 as a white, Christian person, I know what intolerance can lead to – persecution of people because they were different than the rest of us, especially if such intolerance is government approved.
Such attitudes led to the Holocaust, but also people like Oskar Schindler came to the fore.
I am glad that there have been protests in Canada and the US against the killings and the executive order, both by the average person and all kinds of organizations.
Perhaps our governments could be a bit more vocal in coming out against such actions.
Perhaps what our species – human – needs is fewer people who are closed or narrow minded and more people who are more like Gandhi and Schindler.
Most religions claim to be tolerant, compassionate and accepting of each other.
Perhaps in one way or another, we all need to take some of the blame for the current state of our planet.
We would be better off if all of us try to be more tolerant, accepting and compassionate with each other and at times even try to “pay it forward”.
Martin Holzbauer,
Thornhill, BC