Here I am again with my thoughts.  Today is the memorial service for Deputy Justin DeRosier and I will watch and honor his memory and cry.  This is just one of many this year, as a total of 15 officers have been killed by gunfire…murdered.

As I have mentioned “My Little Town” before you may understand that even honoring a fallen officer cannot be held sacred and without people spewing hate and dissension.  This week is no different.  It started with a blue ribbon and a Cowlitz County Deputy’s badge I hung on the column outside the front of my business.  Saturday evening someone walked past it,  then walked back a half a block to rip it down.  Following that, another person in town posted an announcement about the memorial service today and included three pictures one which was the Thin Blue Line flag.  The hate and vitriol that followed was just disheartening.  Cannot we take one day to honor someone who was gunned down without drawing in every political debate that permeates the airwaves?  According to others that flag is racist and represents Blue Lives Matter which they also call racist.   I say it depends on whether you want to see good or evil or believe in love or hate.

Groups that have nefarious intentions adopt many symbols that hold very different meanings from their original creation.

Just because an evil entity (or another group) hijacks something that was meant for good into something evil (or with a different objective) it doesn’t make that thing inherently evil or bad. It is the symbol of what is in the the heart of the user.

Other examples? Most visible…

It is said that Islam is a religion of peace but it has been pervert by radicals into something evil.  Should we not see the good, aren’t most willing to not group the good with the bad?

Christianity is often pervert into a religion of hate. It’s most hallowed symbol, the cross, has been used by hate groups and for evil acts as far back as the crusades. It is worn by the faithful and serial killers even today, does that make them the same?

This young man who designed this flag had no family members in Law Enforcement. He felt they were, as as whole, constantly under attack and wanted to give back. He has denounced it’s use by white supremacy groups many times.

People who want to see evil, as in Muslims or Christians as a whole, will see evil and people who want to see good will see good.