Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1497871
96 | SIGNATURE MONTANA Gregg Smith is a local attorney, born and raised in Great Falls. He is a small "L" libertarian with obvious populist leanings. He genuinely likes people of all persuasions, political and otherwise. workers -- such as schoolteachers -- how to do their government-paid jobs when instructing children, who are present by government mandate, the costs for all this paid for by taxpayers who are forced to pay for schools by government coercion." You have a say. It is ok to believe that biological males should not compete in women's sports. at is not "an aack on trans kids," and it is not "denying their right to exist." It is merely one opinion among many and can be justified on the grounds of safety and fairness, among other reasons that don't include "hate." It's ok to believe in climate change but to disagree that it must take precedence over every other societal issue. Make no mistake: the reforms that the green movement has in mind for you will make life eminently more difficult for many people. You are allowed to disagree with this trade-off. You are allowed to disagree that we should be shuing down fossil fuel use in favor of electricity, especially when the proponents of doing so fail to seriously contend with the related problems, such as the lack of infrastructure for charging, the lack of electrical generation, and the serious environmental concerns that arise with the production of baeries. Maybe it will turn out great, maybe it won't. No one has a crystal ball, and you are allowed to believe the outcome of this 'electrification plan' will likely be failure and economic, if not physical, pain for many. It's ok to believe one's political views should have no bearing on one's ability to access financial services. e number of views that are so repugnant to society as to justify banning those views outright is, in our politically pluralistic society, zero. You are allowed to believe that Covid 19 came from a lab in Wuhan. at does not make you a racist or a xenophobe. It's ok to want to know whether it was man-made. at does not make you a kook or a conspiracy theorist. You can disagree with all of the Covid-19 restrictions imposed by governments around the world, and you are not a nutcase if you think that pandemics should not eviscerate your constitutional rights. You can wonder why US citizens faced vaccine-related restrictions when unvaccinated illegal immigrants come into our country by the thousands. It is certainly possible to teach children about slavery and the history of racism in this country without suggesting that the US has a unique problem or a unique history. Children can learn the context and painful history without being classified now by the color of their own skin. We can be sensitive to racism without trying to convince children or even adolescents that they are responsible for, or owe repentance for, acts that occurred hundreds of years before they were born. e ruling party in China is communist. It is not racist or xenophobic to suggest that communism is a bad thing and that we should be wary of doing business with them. History has proven these things to be true. When people on the le call you a "fascist" because you don't agree with them, you can laugh. And no, your laughter does not make you a fascist. More oen than not, it is the accuser who is in fact behaving like a fascist. You are not a racist because you believe we should exercise some level of control over our borders that is more stringent than what we are currently doing. e fact that you can see potential societal problems from the influx of millions of immigrants who generally do not speak our language and are largely uneducated does not mean you are selfish or un-Christian. You are allowed to act in a way that you believe is the most likely to preserve our society for our children. You are not a kook if you believe two things can be true simultaneously. January 6 can be both a serious event and can also be exaggerated and manipulated by politicians for their own ends. It does not make you crazy to suggest that public information, such as videotape of the crowds paid for with your tax dollars, should be made available to the public. If you disagree with Joe Biden and the Democrats, that does not make you a "threat to democracy." Like "misinformation," this is simply more propaganda designed to suggest that right-leaning views are beyond the pale. You get the dri. And I suggest that, if you agree with any of the above points, you probably already agree that people can hold their own opinions, even if they are different from yours. is is because you have already spent time on the 'outside' and understand how toxic it is to suggest that there is only one way to think on any given issue, let alone on all of them. But if you disagree with those points, philosophically or even factually, we need your help. Can you nevertheless accept that some might hold these beliefs in good faith? If you can accept good faith disagreement, the rest of us (the ones that you disagree with) need you to step up and fight. You are the key. You need to support us on the big issue. You have to speak up against division, against cancel culture, against commandeering the language, against the suggestion that there is one way to think, and that way is dictated by the government. Because if you don't, eventually, they will come aer you and your ideas, too. S MT