Editor,
In the recent mayoral debate, (Democratic candidate) Miles Nelson repeatedly mentioned the group Moms for Liberty. This seems to be the focal point of his campaign. Even the moderator’s questioning regarding the quote by Hitler was phrased in such a way that the hearer might think of the MFL group as pro-Hitler, when in fact MFL was using an extreme (bad) example of what could happen, if the government were to control the minds of our children.
I agree with Nelson and (Republican candidate) Sue Finkam that the Hitler quote was a very poor choice in making their point of “parents, you’d better pay attention.” Sadly, this warning is now being twisted by Nelson. I am of the philosophy “If you’re thinking it – say it – with charity.” They, like many groups these days, forgot the charity part.
I’d like to offer some advice to Nelson: Think about who you’re denouncing. I am sure you’ve witnessed a mother’s intuition or a mother’s protective nature. It is powerful! Moms have hearts that are fine-tuned toward protecting their children at all costs.
As an elected official, you owe it to all moms to hear them out (assuming they’re speaking with charity). Perhaps this Jewish saying is familiar: “One mother achieves more than a hundred teachers.” If you are trying to be a mayor to all of Carmel, it’s important to listen to positions that are different than your own. You can’t just cancel them.
What keeps me up at night is Nelson’s extremism, disguised as “supporting our school system.” Although you claim to want to “keep the national culture wars out of our public schools,” it is the very cancel culture that I believe you want to bring to our schools and our city that needs to be denounced.
Tom McHaffie, Carmel
