To the Editor:
The reactions of the Dartmouth Editorial Board and Chris LaBarbera ("Christ is not a Bigot," April 6) to the recent antihomosexual and anti-Jewish mailings are childish and silly. The Dartmouth Editorial Board writes, "Hate and intolerance have no place at Dartmouth." Why not? It is typical liberal propaganda that all of us can and should live in peace and harmony. People do hate. There is nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with expressing hatred. The Dartmouth Editorial Board also writes that the individual or group responsible for the hate mailings are trying to "force their beliefs" on people. This is an outrageous claim.
Those who sent the mailings are simply expressing their opinions and feelings. I welcome the open expression of thought and ideas. The Dartmouth Editorial Board exhibits typical liberal closed-mindedness when they state, "It is doubtful that they could be swayed from their intolerant beliefs." The Editorial Board immediately assumes that the views of the senders of the mailings are wrong and that the senders obviously will not listen to arguments against their opinions. Just because the senders hold an extreme point of view does not mean they are closed-minded. The Dartmouth Editorial Board closes its statement in a threatening manner, writing that future Dartmouth students "had better learn to open up their minds." The Editorial Board does not truly want students with open minds. They want a repressed student body, where everyone purports to love everyone else. This is certainly not the Dartmouth I want.
Chris LaBarbera also overreacts to the mailings, taking them way too personally: "How can I rejoice when someone thinks God has damned gays?" I certainly do not want to prevent Mr. LaBarbera from rejoicing, but those responsible for the mailings are certainly not alone in this world in their beliefs that God has damned homosexuals. Mr. LaBarbera claims that "this mailing hurts me, my friends, my family, my Christ and my God."
Please. All college students should have reached that point where they grow up and stop whining about being offended. Mr. LaBarbera continues on with his silly statements, writing, "the pamphlet ... was specifically designed to instill fear, to target, to segregate and hate." From what Mr. LaBarbera writes, the pamphlet contains no threats and certainly no plans for "ethnic cleansing." Mr. LaBarbera seeks, just like the Dartmouth Editorial Board, to blow this situation way out of proportion. He does make one fair point, though. He writes that people should be true to themselves. If you hate, do not be afraid to voice your opinions. Be true to yourself.
Noah Hutson-Ellenberg '02
