From the Office of October 28, 2018
Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce

Practicing What We Say We Believe

The shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg on Saturday was a horrific crime of hatred and depravity and my heart goes out to the families that are suffering now. Unfortunately, incidents like this have become too commonplace in America. In just the past few days there were other incidents of senseless violence fueled by irrational hatred and misplaced blame.

While the people committing these acts are not representative of what America is and has been about, they do represent a disease that is percolating throughout our country. The disease is intolerance. And intolerance is nothing more than the inability of some people to understand and respect their fellow Americans – even if they don’t agree with them.

It is our obligation as Americans to stand together against violence as a way to settle disputes and disagreements. We have to do more than talk about tolerance for other points of view and beliefs, we need to practice tolerance – without exception. We need to talk TO those we disagree with not talk about them. We must stop using social media as a platform for the rhetoric of personal destruction and the dehumanizing of others. We have to stop giving fuel to the weak-minded and the mentally ill among us who fail to recognize the boundary between debate and destruction.

The lessons of history are clear – the unraveling of communities and countries begins when we are unable to see the person across the street as one who suffers as we do; who feels sorrow and pain as we do; as one who laughs and cries like we do.

America must strive harder to let the goodness within us show outwardly – we must become the shining city on the hill that is our destiny.

God Bless America
And God Bless all of you

Betty Lou DeCroce