To the editor:

Freedom of speech and expression stand as two of the bedrock principles upon which the United States of America was built. Not often are these values so openly displayed as they are during an election season, especially one as divisive as this one.

This diversity of opinion stands out along the streets of our community as residents post signs and banners supporting their candidates of choice. This marks a chance for us to make our statements, utilizing our freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, freedoms that define us as a nation and people who have opinions, but respect those of others as well.

Or so I thought.

I just shake my head when I see the often vulgar and offensive flags showing loyalty to the Republican side of the presidential ticket. I think to myself, how anyone would want to send this kind of rude, foul message to the rest of the world, let alone to their children.

However, I move on. Sure, I question the state of our country where it has become acceptable to display such hate. I doubt our founding fathers would have imagined such actions.

But, to each their own.

I have learned, though, this tolerance and acceptance of our basic Constitutional rights doesn’t work both ways.

My son has had two Harris-Waltz signs stolen from his front yard. I have had one such sign stolen from my front yard.

Some criminal walked onto our properties and took something that belonged to us. I can only reason that they did this because we dared to express a view that was counter to their political stance.

This shouldn’t surprise me, I guess. Some of the signs supporting Donald Trump proclaim that the individual is willing to vote for the felon, so theft of a yard sign isn’t too big of a leap.

I am probably preaching to the choir here. I doubt this message will reach the hoodlum who pilfered our signs, and if it did, I doubt they could read it.

We just must pray for a society where theft of something one disagrees with is tolerated, even accepted. Aside from divine intervention, we can only pull our nation out of this abyss by being willing to accept other ideas, broader ideas, ones different from ours.

I can only hope this is possible.

For the record, stealing the signs from our yards doesn’t stop anything. It doesn’t change minds. It only makes the perp’s mind seem small.

And, we have more signs.

Dale Hogg

Great Bend