Hate often has roots in ignorance

Re: Police-reported hate crimes rose in Alberta in 2015, StatsCan says, June 14

Alberta makes news by becoming the leader in hate crimes. Why?

The simple answer is the economy, but I would argue it runs deeper than that.

Every time someone expresses hatred toward a politician, it adds to the level of hate.

Every time someone expresses hatred toward a Muslim or any other identifiable group, it adds to the level of hate.

I would argue that the level of acceptable language has declined to the point of ignorance.

Language is a powerful tool that is often abused, exploited and mistreated. Some have become comfortable expressing views they haven’t bothered to understand or research.

A consequence of this is a freedom to offer hatred instead of understanding, love and compassion.

It is time that we erase the word “hate” from our vocabulary and, more importantly, from people’s behaviours.

Barry Johns, Sylvan Lake