Take Vermont how far back? By Kenneth A. Saxe Times Argus Friday, August 11, 2000 Combine xenophobia, homophobia and ignorance and you get "Take Back Vermont/ Remember in November," and, whether they like it or not, the Vermont Republican Party. Quebec nationalists refer to those who can trace their roots back 350 years to Catholic France as being "Du laine pur" or "of pure wool." If you are anything other, you are somehow not as valued. In Vermont, those who cannot trace their roots back to prehistoric times are "flatlanders" who are supposed to keep their foreign ideas to themselves. I guess if you can trace yourself back to the first European invaders, you somehow are due a greater say in how things should be. Along with the daily barrage of letters to the editor there has been an alarming increase in the "Take Back Vermont" signs and "Remember in November" bumper stickers throughout Barre and Montpelier. Obviously organized, this campaign reeks of hate and holier-than-thou smugness. This is the group who is modeling for our kids that it's OK to judge someone by what they are (uncontrollable) rather than what they do (controllable). Ever notice how shrill these enlightened souls become when confronted with their own biases, bigotry and narrow-mindedness? They quickly revert to "Our elected reps in Montpelier didn't listen to us ..." They, including the Vermont Republican Party, who are now even feeding upon their own who dared to support civil rights for all, conveniently ignore both the Vermont and U.S. Constitutions, which were designed to protect us from the tyranny of just such demagogues. Notice how much they ignore the same constitutions when the issue of gun rights is broached! Vermonters self-righteously brag that they were the first to outlaw slavery. It was easy to ban something that required no change. However, try to outlaw discrimination, racism, intolerance, poverty, or injustice and everyone is not so quick to jump on board. We're all for change, as long as it's others who do the changing. So just how far "back" should Vermont be taken? To a time of property covenants barring Jews, African-Americans or French Canadians from owning property? To a time of exclusively white, Christian male voters? How far? Scientific research consistently indicates that sexual orientation is not a matter of choice, but rather simply is. Attempts of the religious right to deny those findings through isolated and slanted interpretations of scripture is not a new tack. Historically, zealots have selected biblical passages, which would appear to support their biases and to justify their need to deny other minorities the rights, which they felt were reserved exclusively for themselves. Ignorance is not bliss; ignorance is ignorance. Freedom of speech is a right often misused, but a right nonetheless. It is also a price we pay for living in a democracy. Those who use that right for inflammatory purpose, should not however, be surprised when people react in kind. I still cannot figure out how ensuring the rights of one group of citizens, long denied, should somehow be perceived as a slight to other, unaffected groups. Civil unions legislation does not offend these folks; they simply do not like the people it empowered. It may be that I must, out of respect for the Constitution, tolerate both the active and passive aggressive tactics of these zealots, but I most certainly do not have to do business with those who are plastering their office and store fronts with their hostile mumbo jumbo. I encourage others to do the same. Although I am neither gay, nor of a visible minority, I am a member of a significant religious minority. We were denied our rights for ages, even here in Vermont. I cannot be silent while another group becomes a target. For those, particularly Republicans, who are going to "Remember in November," your single-issue campaign will backfire, as Vermonters, for the most part, are quite accepting of each other. I hope that Vermonters do remember from where this ill will has originated. I have selected a few scripture quotes, no doubt out of context, to end this piece: "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you"; "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"; "Love thy neighbor as thyself"; "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas ...." Kenneth A. Saxe lives in Montpelier.