Name: Opinion: Oregon is burning amid a firestorm of hate
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Opinion: Oregon is burning amid a firestorm of hate

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NEW!5,877sharesNaseem RakhaRakha, an author, is currently evacuated from her home in Silverton.On Labor Day, a caravan of people in pick-up trucks laden with U.S. and Trump flags made its way south from Clackamas County to Salem. Strapped with semi-automatic weapons, the group of about 100 people rallied on the steps of our state capitol, cheering as a man with a bullhorn called for Democratic lawmakers to be shot in the street, and Black Lives Matter supporters were chased down and then struck by bats and maced.Oregon is burning, forests are exploding, and people’s tempers are getting hotter.Monday night, after the weapon-clad “patriots” with their concealed license plates went back to their homes and families, hot eastern winds carrying the force of a hurricane struck the mountain canyons that lead through forest and farmland to the Willamette Valley. Small fires grew into large uncontrollable infernos consuming everything in their paths. The next morning people woke to a deep red world. From windows it looked as if blood had been smeared across the glass: the molten glow of burning forests, homes, pictures, baby clothes, dreams.That morning Trump sent out a message to his supporters. His newest fundraising letter had just a four-word tag line: “The left HATES you!”I stared at those four words, dumbfounded by their carelessness. The only purpose for such a grotesque statement and similar ones he has been making throughout his campaign is to stoke vitriol in our country, to burn relationships between neighbors, and to give “patriots” like those at the Salem rally an excuse for smacking down left-leaning demonstrators. The Labor Day message of the weapon clad men and women was clear. You may hate us but we hate you more. And,&nbsp;we have guns. We stand with Trump,&nbsp;and we have guns.The Proud Boys, a self described “Western chauvinist” group that believes white men are under siege, were at the rally with bats and guns. So was a man who identified himself to a friend of mine as a member of the Boogaloos, a group whose goal is to ignite another U.S. civil war, according to various news organizations.And don’t for a moment think that goal ridiculous, that the United States is somehow immune to that kind of tragic tempest. We are not. Democracy is not a given. It takes work and patience and people who know history and leaders who have some idea of the weight of sacrifice.The heat of Oregon’s fires comes in the midst of the heat wrought by a changing climate and the fevers triggered by a deadly contagion — all of which are somehow, inexplicably, a matter of contention in today’s upside-down world where science and logic and expert opinion are now a malleable ingredient in Trump’s war on our minds.This is not the America I want to live in.I know, I know the rejoinder: “Then leave!” Well I’m not going to leave, and my voice is not going to be quelled. I will continue to articulate what I believe needs to be said: good does not come from hate; peace does not come from the threat of violence. I do not stand with people who vandalize or loot, but I also do not stand with people who threaten those who do not see things their way. The extremes on both ends of the “dialogue” in America have diminished America, and I hold our president responsible for igniting the firestorm of hate in our country.Civilization depends on people being civilized.The fires in Oregon have spread everywhere in our state. Whole communities have burned to the ground. People have died. The air is thick with heat and the clouds are burnished by flame. Tomorrow we will wake to learn how much further those fires have spread.Share your opinionSubmit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!5,877sharesNaseem RakhaRakha, an author, is currently evacuated from her home in Silverton.On Labor Day, a caravan of people in pick-up trucks laden with U.S. and Trump flags made its way south from Clackamas County to Salem. Strapped with semi-automatic weapons, the group of about 100 people rallied on the steps of our state capitol, cheering as a man with a bullhorn called for Democratic lawmakers to be shot in the street, and Black Lives Matter supporters were chased down and then struck by bats and maced.Oregon is burning, forests are exploding, and people’s tempers are getting...

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Opinion: Oregon is burning amid a firestorm of hate

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