In the March 10 letter to the editor by Pauline Harms, “Private school parents meddling,” the author was disturbed that 300-plus emails protested how the Feb. 7 school board meeting was handled. She continued, “Let me guess: this was an organized campaign by ‘moral high-grounders’ against SOGI 123…and not ‘natural outrage’ by Chilliwack citizens.” From this came the assumption that “many of you campaigners probably send your children to your own religious private schools anyway.” And then came a rant about these religious zealots who are seeking to “degrade the public schools into an imitation of your own church schools.”
Was anyone troubled by the number of guesses and assumptions which were stated as fact? What about the judgment – again, without any research to back it – that these 300-plus emails were not the product of natural outreach by Chilliwack citizens? Is it inconceivable to this author that there might actually be people not of a religious, private school persuasion who might be troubled with how the February school board meeting was conducted?
We have seen much fake news published in various forms of media which have caused significant harm to society. When will we realize that we can’t just guess about something and call it “fact” just because it aligns with whatever personal bias we might have on a topic? Isn’t it time now to ensure that what we state aligns with truth and not just assumption? I, for one, feel that we need to move in that direction.
Richard Kopanke
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