To the editor:

In a world of many choices, intolerance comes close to being king. Intolerance is a building block that leads to fear, which leads to disrespect and name calling, which leads to divisiveness, which leads to bigotry, which leads to hatred, which leads to violence. Today it is found in government, in news organizations, in politics, in college classrooms, even in local newspapers and churches. It matters not whether intolerance is used in the name of the liberal or the conservative causes, because carried to extremes both sides act out in the exactly the same ways. Yes, what they espouse is vastly different, but what the extremes on either side do is exactly the same – violence and disregard for human dignity and human rights and laws passed by our elected officials.

Intolerance has led both to right wing white supremacy terrorists and to left wing antifa terrorists. Stop it, people! America is better than that – or it should be. I implore both left-leaning and right-leaning persons to respect each other and to work to find common ground despite your differences.

John McQuitty,

Lawrence