Harrison has a hate problem.

I live in a community that has long been plagued by the pernicious acts of a hate group. There are various splinter groups they organize under in an attempt to re-brand themselves and disguise their true intentions, but it's always the same gang of familiar scowling faces.

They purchase billboard space along the highway that runs through our town and use the space to promote their hateful racist philosophies. I won't do these goons the favor of publishing their messages or the names of their leaders here, but you can easily find all of this with a Google search. The dominant theme of their messaging has been one of white supremacy, but as you will see in this photo essay, their true stock-in-trade is hate.

I'm here to tell the world the truth: we are not afraid of these people. We reject and rebuke them and their hate in the name of Love. Harrison is a kind and loving community.

The good people of this community - and there are many of us - are disgusted and frustrated by the continued antagonistic actions of these who hide behind their symbols and misappropriated religious philosophies. The legion of true Christians in our community is disgusted by the hateful perversion of Jesus' Gospel of Love to promote their poisonous philosophy of hatred.

Our community is harmed on a daily basis by the selfish and crude acts of these hateful few. Our local business owners - especially those with a tourism-based business - see their revenue dwindle as more and more tourist traffic is frightened away from stopping here due to the hate speech on our highways and the negative press that constantly rains down upon us by well-meaning but misinformed news media from across the nation and the world. They are polluting the minds of our children who see these messages in public and are subconsciously taught that such language and philosophy is acceptable in civilized society, and that Christianity is about hatred and judgment and fear.

It's easy for outsiders to point fingers at our community and say, "They shouldn't allow that," but the problem is much more complicated than any simple solutions would suggest. There are freedom of speech issues, religious freedom issues, and frankly there are issues of fear and safety.

A Culture of Fear

I cannot overstate the fear and intimidation factor that the hate group once held over the people of this town. It's not hard to understand why: we live within easy reach of extremist religious zealots who seem dangerously misguided, heavily armed, and very capable of violence. They are also invisible. The secretive nature of their organizations means that anyone could be a member or a friend of the group. This creates a culture of fear and mistrust. Imagine that you wanted to do something to fix the problem, but you feared for the safety of yourself, your family and your pets. That's been the climate in Harrison. People try to keep their heads down and their noses clean, to stay safe. It's time for that to end.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.