Violence is never the solution to a political conflict

Printed in the Bloomington Herald-Times, September 18, 2017

To the Editor:

White supremacists and neo-Nazis are evil. The Bible teaches all men and women are made in the image of Almighty God. I have been personally attacked on numerous occasions by neo-Nazis who are furious that I oppose their agenda. I have no sympathy for these wicked people.

But President Trump is right: There was blame on both sides in Charlottesville. "Antifa" terrorists showed up ready to fight, as they have done many times before. In late August, they were beating conservatives at a "free speech" rally.

This is not new. Leftist terrorists violently attacked peaceful anti-abortion demonstrators in 2012 in Bloomington.

As much as some people think it is "cute" to post memes or even seriously advocate that we "punch a Nazi," we should not punch ANYONE for his beliefs. Once the precedent is established that we can punch people for opinions, the pool of people who can be punched will expand greatly.

Violence is not the way to advance your agenda, including opposing the evil of abortion. Despite the lies that my enemies have been spreading about me, I have been 100% perfectly consistent for twenty years in denouncing anti-abortion violence, including vandalism against the abortion mill in Bloomington.