August 23, 2020
An Open Letter to El Ojo del Lago
To: Victoria A Schmidt, Editor-in-Chief
Via email - elojodellago@gmail.com
Greetings,
Your policy to allow authors to respond to criticism is very fair. We once lived in a society where fairness was appreciated and valued. Sadly, those days seem to be gone and we now live in more dangerous times.
The letter of Scott Rothwell and the reply by Dr. Lorin Swinehart in the August 2020 issue of El Ojo reflect the polarization rampant almost everywhere today. There are powerful dynamics in play which are important to understand. There is potential danger that we all should try to protect Lakeside from.
Once upon a time people enjoyed friendly debates over differences of opinion. Those evolved into debates framed as right or wrong. And those evolved into wars of words framed as battles between good and evil. And that is now evolving into a desire by some on the fringes of society to destroy such evil. And that ugliness is now beginning to move from the margins towards the centre of society. And that must not be allowed to happen here at Lakeside.
The exchange between Rothwell and Swinehart reflects individuals perhaps unwilling or incapable of understanding each other. That impasse is probably harmless in isolation, entertainment for many readers. But it could trigger unstable individuals to take action to eliminate a perceived evil. Unfortunately, there is evidence that a few such individuals live in our fine community. That evidence, consisting of extremely inappropriate comments, can be seen from time to time on local social media such as facebook groups.
I would encourage you to reconsider your policy which could ultimately have unintended, tragic consequences.
Regards,
John Stokdijk
john.stokdijk@gmail.com