Hate Still Exists

Last year, in a post about the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, I wrote:

Our children need to be taught about the injustices of history. Whether it is the Holocaust, or the historical oppression of African-Americans in the United States, or the current genocide in Darfur, we need to teach and inform others about history.

Hate exists. We need to educate our children that hate is wrong. We need to educate ourselves about hatred throughout history. Otherwise, society is doomed to a continuance of hate and intolerance.

Yesterday was a sad reminder that hate shows no boundaries, not even age.  The mindless murder of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was made more shocking when it was revealed his killer was 88 years old.  Someone was so hateful, that they devoted their entire life to propagating that hate.

We need to reaffirm our commitment to eradicating hatred from the world.  And we need to teach our children to be tolerant of others.  We don't have to agree with everyone.  We're entitled to believe whatever we'd like.  But we can't confuse disagreement with hatred.  That is a very dangerous leap.

Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns served heroically, and gave his life standing up to hatred.  His memory should inspire us to continue the mission of the museum,  "to confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy."