You would think that one of the qualifications to be on a cityâs human rights commission, no matter how big or small that city might be, is that you could reasonably pass as âtolerant.â
This doesnât entail actual toleration, mind you, although it does require one to actively pretend to it. Think, instead, of the kind of air-quotes âtoleranceâ that still slaps a âCoexistâ bumper-sticker on the back of a Prius in 2022, the kind of âtoleranceâ that makes sure to write detailed Facebook posts on all seven days of Kwanzaa no matter how puts-mayonnaise-on-mayonnaise white it may be. (No posts on Easter, though.)
In fairness, dear reader, I cannot claim to know or have had professional relations with Diane Loud, an erstwhile member of the Dedham, Massachusett, Human Rights Commission. I donât know what she drives or what bumper stickers might be on the back of it â but I can venture a guess that, at the time of her appointment, she was considered âtolerant.â
I confess, too, that Iâm unaware of what her social media feed looked like on any of the seven days of Kwanzaa. I do, however, know what she posted on Facebook about Christmas â and itâs why sheâs 1) out of a job and 2) the latest object lesson in why tolerant and âtolerantâ are not nearly synonyms.
According to CBN News, Loud was forced to resign last week after an unhinged Facebook rant aimed at Christians in which she called God a âmagic sky daddyâ and said those who were upset at the decision to not display a Christmas tree in a public library only âclaim to believe in Christ and Christmas or whatever happy horses*** youâre trying to hide behind.â
Dedham, a suburb 30 miles southwest of liberal Boston, first made war-on-Christmas news last week after a supervisor with the Endicott Branch of the public library protested against town supervisors telling her to keep the Christmas tree in storage this year.
âI was told that, when people, I use the word âpeople,â walked in that room, it made them uncomfortable,â branch supervisor Lisa Desmond told local talk radio, according to WBZ-TV, CBS Boston.
She also took her story to Facebook.
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âI have never posted a negative post on Facebook,â Desmond wrote in a Dec. 2 post. âThat is, until now. I found out today that my beautiful library will not have itâs Christmas tree this year.â
âWhen I asked, I was told âpeopleâ were made uncomfortable last year looking at it. Iâm sorry WHAT? In my 28 years at the Dedham Public Library, I have never heard a negative comment.â
The sentiment in Dedham seemed to be on Desmondâs side:
âI think we should have symbols of everybody. Itâs the holidays; we should be celebrating to get through these dark times, and I think a lot of people are really stressed out for good reasons,â said a parent who is a weekly visitor to the library, according to WBZ. âItâs time to relax and reset before the new year. I say have more items of celebration.â
Loud did not think it was time to ârelax and reset before the new year,â alas. In a now-deleted Facebook post, she claimed that Desmond and others had âput the lives of the library staff in dangerâ and wished âgreat sufferingâ upon them.
âYou are too cowardly to have an actual conversation, an interaction, so you do what you have done time and again: sent in the unhinged goons who donât even have a connection to Dedham but who have an avid connection to hatred and bigotry. then youâll sit back and pretend innocence and surprise, even though you knew g*****n well what you were doing,â she wrote.
As for Desmond herself? âF*** YOU,â Loud wrote. âYou knew what you were doing. You spent days batting aside the people who asked you to ratchet this back âEveryone will tell you Iâm the most inclusive person ever!â Everyone will tell me that you are a selfish f***ing b***h who does not care about anyone but herself. For a tree? For a m***********g TREE?
âYou have put peopleâs lives in a lot of danger. A LOT of danger. For a m***********g Christmas tree.â
Yeah â we need to be protected from all the crazy, intolerant people who might see a ranting bigot online and be inspired to act against groups they donât like!
(For the uninitiated, the current buzz phrase for this is âstochastic terrorism,â which Dictionary.com defines as âthe public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.â)
And itâs not just Desmond who reaped Loudâs invective, because of course it wasnât. Addressing others â âwhoever the f*** was behind thisâ â she wrote:
âI hope this is worth it. All. I hope the fact that you â who claim to believe in Christ and Christmas or whatever happy horses*** youâre trying to hide behind â are the least gracious, most hateful, most disgusting trash in the world,â she continued.
âIs this what you think your magic sky daddy wants? Where in the bible was this again? In closing, I would like to add a final round of F*** YOU, YOU PIECES OF TRASH. I hate each and every one of you and I do wish great suffering on you.
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âYou are terrible, terrible people,â Loud concluded. âAnd you did it all because you didnât get your way. You are despicable.â
Right. Um, not unpredictably, the Dedham Human Rights Commission decided that perhaps the âmagic sky daddyâ people werenât the despicable ones here, which is why Loud is no longer counted among the commissionâs members.
âHRC Member Diane Loud has stepped down from her position on the Dedham Human Rights Commission,â a statement from the commission last week read, according to CBN. âWe sincerely appreciate Dianeâs service and look forward to working with the Commission on Disabilities to find a representative to take her place.â
In a Facebook post published Tuesday, the commission went further:
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âAt the first meeting of the Dedham Human Rights Commission since its former member Diane Loud posted an inappropriate reaction to a community controversy, all members in attendance voted unanimously to strongly disavow her statement,â the post stated. âMs. Loud was not speaking for the HRC when she posted and her post does not represent the values and work of the HRC. We apologize to all of those harmed by Ms. Loudâs comments.â
The town of Dedham issued a statement on Dec. 8 that â while not explicitly mentioning Loud or the Christians she attacked â made it clear that sometimes, even liberals will choose actual tolerance over âtolerance.â
âThe Town of Dedham stands in support of all town staff targeted by recent online threats and bullying. Unfortunately, a recent social media post expressing disagreement with the decision to display a holiday tree at the library has quickly evolved into a polarized environment and has led to the harassment and bullying of town employees. We wholeheartedly condemn this behavior as it tears at the fabric of our community and cannot be tolerated,â the statement read.
âWe continue to encourage constructive conversations and healthy debates, but because of social media and outside sources, what could have been something of legitimate discourse turned neighbor against neighbor, and has threatened the safety and well-being of community members and staff. This behavior is not a true reflection of our commitment to lead with kindness and civility.â
Still, itâs truly shocking the level of hate against Christians that individuals, particularly public officials, think they can get away with in 2022.
Nor would this work against any other faith. Post this rant yourself and substitute any non-Christian religion, and the odds are the only social media service youâll still be platformed on is 4chan. For once, at least, the anti-Christian hate was enough to make Loud temporarily unacceptable.
Oh, and it turns out the Christmas trees will end up going up, after all.
âThe initial decision to not display a Christmas tree was the result of an ongoing review of all our holiday decorations and displays that started back in the spring,â the director of the Dedham Library told Fox News. âWhat has played out on social media is unfortunate, it has negatively impacted our staff and the community, and frankly, transpired before we had even started our seasonal decorating.â
Merry Christmas, Diane Loud. Both from us here at The Western Journal and from our shared âMagic Sky Daddyâ â Whose teachings you may wish to spend part of your newly freed-up schedule studying.
Heaven knows that, from looking at your online hate-screed, you seem to be a woman in dire need of some of His peace.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
