This St. Patrick’s Day, Harvard seems to be getting famous for all the wrong reasons. (See “Local religious school drops out of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, then returns.”)
Br. Principal Thomas Dalton has seen fit to preach intolerance to the next generation of young Catholics despite the Pope’s new message of concentrating on our commonalities instead of our differences. Bringing people together rather than pulling them apart. Contrary to what some may gather from this story, this man does not speak for the town of Harvard. He does not get to extend his reach for intolerance and hate as far as Boston, and then get to retract it back into the quiet country hills of Still River. Instead I would like to call him out, right here where we BOTH live, to say what needs to be said. You have single-handedly brought negative, unfounded attention to our fair town, and I really need you to understand the impact your callous actions have caused others.
In a predominantly democrat, liberal, well-educated, and affluent community like Harvard, it is uncharacteristic that this one man, Principal Thomas Dalton, saw fit to represent a message of intolerance, and even referred to the gay lifestyle as “depraved.” His philosophy for dealing with anyone that has different views than himself is to publicly condemn them and then exclude them from a celebratory parade in Boston. Well guess what, gay people don’t just march in St. Patrick’s Day parades in Boston, they live among you in your own community, right here in Harvard.
I would ask Principal Dalton, that if he can’t find it within himself to peacefully coexist and march in a parade with gay veterans who have risked their lives to protect himself and this country, who can he march next to? He has chosen to NOT set an example of being kind to his neighbors, both straight and gay, in this beautiful New England town that God has created for ALL of us to live in.
Scott Carter
Barton Road
