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Question the Motives

I was somewhat taken aback by the strident tone of the letter of Jan. 19 [“This Simple Truth”] from 12 members of the clergy from Madison and Guilford. Among the signees were members of the major faiths in our area; Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish. As this letter was obviously timed to be published in the Courier on the day before Donald Trump was inaugurated as our 45th president, one has to question the motives behind such correspondence.

That letter decries “the spike in hate crimes in recent days and months” along the shoreline. It goes on to condemn acts of anti-Semitism, violence against Muslims, and threats against minorities. In other words, the writers cite the usual litany of horrors that are routinely used to slander the Trump administration by those who are upset with the results of the November presidential election.

I don’t know if any of this group did any fact checking before making such assertions, but I made it a point to do so. After making inquiry to the police departments in both Madison and Guilford, I wish to assure your readers that there has been no increase in hate crimes in either town over the past several months. In fact, in Guilford there were no credible reports of hate crimes for the entire year of 2016.

It is a sad commentary on the times we live in that we get fake news from our major media outlets. We don’t expect it from our clergy.

David Egan

Guilford

Editor’s note: The letter in question did not state that hate crimes occurred in Madison or Guilford. Hate crimes have been reported regionally, including Nazi graffiti in Branford on Nov. 15, 2016.