While leaving McCormick Hall Thursday, I was greeted with a scene that I could only compare with someone throwing matches into a powder keg.
A small group of men had gathered on the corner of 16th Street and Wisconsin Avenue demonstrating against, from what I understood, the alleged government cover-up of the events of 9/11. I passed this group earlier in the morning on my way to class, and admittedly, uttered a few choice words under my breath before carrying on.
This second encounter at lunchtime, however, was different. Some men from the upper floors of McCormick Hall decided it was their civic duty to heckle these demonstrators into submission.
While I do not condone verbal abuse toward any person, I’ll admit those students shouting out of the window of McCormick Hall were doing what I think everyone who walked by that corner that day wanted to do. The students threw insults and obscene remarks, while a man holding a sign blared, “Freedom of assembly, freedom of assembly,” over and over like a car alarm.
When I passed by these men in the morning, I was angry. When I passed by a second time, I was still angry. However, regardless of how I view their opinions, the man with the air horn was right.
Those men who stood on the corner of 16th and Wisconsin last Thursday were courageous. I find their beliefs to be disheartening and sickening, but I know few other people who would stand in such hostile territory voicing such an unpopular opinion.
Hate breeds hate, and while the civil servants in McCormick Hall were voicing the opinions most of us probably felt toward these men, I cannot condone their actions either.
As a nation built on freedom, those men had a right to be on that street corner, and those students in McCormick — while I might not be entirely sure on the legalities of verbal harassment — had a right to respond with their counter opinions. It began as a demonstration with negative overtones, but the response by those students only exacerbated the downward spiral.
People have a right to believe what they want to, and the veterans we honored Thursday fought to make sure of that. With this gift of freedom, we must understand that if abused, it is worthless.
The freedom to hate one another is something we are afforded, but not necessarily something we need to use. Too often, people get caught up in the politics of a situation and forget that we are privileged with certain rights because men and women loved this country on such a level that they were willing to make unimaginable sacrifices to defend it.
Our freedoms are born out of this love for country, so why is it so difficult for us to love our neighbors with whom we share our freedom? I realized that despite our differences of opinion, we have no reason to hate each other.
I do not hate those men who were demonstrating, even if their message upset me.
Unfortunately, in our society, neutral discussions on issues such as this are near impossible. Passions leaning one way or another prevent any kind of civilized debate from happening. I hope for the day when we reach a level of understanding that will allow us to discuss these kinds of things without fear.
However, if we cannot find a way to voice our differences without intimidation, harassment or threats of violence, we as a society are doomed.
William Christensen is a sophomore in the College of Communication