Thread:Blue in the Red Zone/@comment-681745-20150504042642/@comment-26279493-20150520204912

Election's over. He ran unopposed, I think. Let's hope his community has other ways to control his behavior than the ballot box. I suspect they have many ways. I just hope Mr. Higgins has learned some lessons from the whole situation.

I'm still not sure what I think of the whole situation. Mr. Higgins does seem morally challenged, or at least very willing to use conservative hyperbole in his public speaking. Whether he was being a bully to the young man, or trying to impose community standards is another question. Whichever is true, he is an elected official, and however much we may disdain his personal actions, the D.A.'s office deserves respect.

The statue case is a particularly tough one. On the one hand, the young man's right to free expression and free speech is a very important principle. On the other hand, so is the principle of religious tolerance and freedom of Religion. Pennsylvania does have an interesting religious history, and a very long record of tolerance of Roman Catholicism. The young man is the member of a largely protestant community, and he did take and post the photo with an icon of a competing sect.

The community does have a duty to teach some principles which allow our civil society to young people. Whether the lesson was excessive, or was even understood by the young man, is something we'll have to wait to find out. It's almost unfortunate that this situation has come to be viewed as divisive between Liberal and Conservative, since there are questions for all of us in this situation, and a deeper debate might have been good for all of us.