Letters to the Rockville Centre Herald Editor (Dec. 9-15)

RVC is no place for hate

To the Editor:

I look forward to reading the Herald every week. Last week’s story “Proud Boys march through RVC” was quite disturbing. While we are all entitled to our opinions, as a society we cannot tolerate groups that practice violence of any kind.

The Proud Boys proclaim they are for preserving the American way of life. I think they are trying to preserve their distorted idea of the American way of life. I commend those named in the article who have strongly condemned the Proud Boys.

The group’s waving of the American flag is such a misuse of all the flag stands for. It stands for freedom of race, color and creed. It does not stand for hate and violence. It stands for the rule of law, not hooliganism.

Let us hope that the Proud Boys will fade away, like similar groups before them. I am not naïve to think such ideas will disappear, but hopefully they will be minimized.

John Fitzsimons, Rockville Centre

A moral obligation to speak out

To the Editor:

As an historian of fascism, I felt morally obliged to take part in the demonstration at Central Synagogue-Beth Emeth in Rockville Centre in response to the recent Proud Boys march through the village, and I was honored to do so. The message from Rabbi Michael Cohen of Central Synagogue, the Rev. Scott Ressman of the United Church of Rockville Centre, Mayor Francis X. Murray and the organizers was clear: “Hate has no home here — not now, not ever!”

One lesson of the 20th century is that the political ideology of the Proud Boys ends in the concentration camp. I was thus disheartened not to see the Diocese of Rockville Centre bishop or more representatives of Christian churches lend their voices to the demonstration. I consider this a serious abdication of their moral duty.

Stanislao Pugliese, Ph.D., Queensboro Unico distinguished professor, Hofstra University