(Editor’s note: Mark Bray’s scheduled appearance at the Civic Theatre in Nelson on Thursday, March 22, has been cancelled due to a snow storm in the eastern U.S. Details about refunds and rescheduling will be on the Selkirk College website.)
I am responding to the article published in the Nelson Star, Feb 15, 2018, “Mir Lecture shines spotlight on confronting fascism”- Selkirk College’s Mir Center for Peace Lecture series presents a talk by Mark Bray author of, “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook”.
The Mir Centre website states: “The Mir Centre builds and understands cultures of peace through learning and dialogue”. I am surprised that the Mir Center would have a speaker who promotes an organization like Antifa. As far as I can see, Antifa is an organization that feels justified in shutting down free speech and debate through violent means. There are many examples of them doing this to conservative speakers, such as Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos. Antifa has assaulted private citizens in the streets and they’ve vandalized public property. They are known to carry sticks and small weapons. At their protests they dress in black and hide their faces. Antifa does not allow for reasoned, civil debate. One of their mottos says it all; “By any means necessary”. I hope the Mir Centre will engage in some soul-searching here. If not, they could at least sponsor a debate between Mark Bray and a conservative of equal calibre who opposes the Antifa philosophy. The philosophy of Antifa however, does not allow for debate with anyone they deem to be fascist; these are the people they feel must be shut down by force. “Fascist” includes anyone with a conservative right- wing view. Open dialogue is a corrective to our hubris - why is a “Peace Centre” sponsoring someone who promotes violence as a means to squelch free speech?
Dan Metzger,
Nelson
.