I added the Southern Poverty Law Center blog, Hatewatch, to my blogroll.  I have been derelict in adding blogs to the roll.  Just another one of those things I can’t seem to get to.  I will.  I promise.  Anyway, I have been a financial contributor to SPLC for many years.  They sue white supremacists, racist skinheads, neonazis, gay bashers, the KKK and many others who abuse law abiding citizens whose only crime–in the abuser’s eyes, is their status as different from them.  Members of the hate groups are ultimately cowards, who are afraid of the boogy man.  They dress up in uniforms to feel a part of something larger than their weak small selves.  They attack in packs like jackals, afraid to confront even a smaller person alone.  But they are dangerous nonetheless. 

From a Buddhist perspective, they seldom stray from the worlds of hell, anger or animality.  Deep within, like all beings, they possess a Buddha nature.  Unfortunately, genuine dialogue, to open their eyes and their lives to a more tolerant, happier and humane world is difficult at best.  For this reason, an organization like SPLC is still a necessity.  Federal, state and local law enforcement is not enough. Mental health facilities, drug treatment and economic assistance are not enough.  In time, more people will come to believe and act on the notion that all men have an equal right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  Of course, as we all know, when Thomas Jefferson put these words into the Declaration of Independence he really meant men and didn’t mean to include women; nor to outlaw slavery. So it took a long while to get where we are now in legal terms; it will take longer still to get there in people’s hearts and minds.