An April 8 letter to the editor in the Tri-Town News opposed the idea of encouraging economic diversity here in New Jersey, arguably the most economically segregated state in the country. The writer used nature to illustrate why “all of these touchy-feely concepts cherished by the left and religious leaders are frauds.”
The letter reads, “Let’s examine the real world. Sparrows do not soar with eagles or even live with them … tigers and deer do not frolic together; deer merely become tigers’ next meals.”
I am sorry the author missed the opportunity to strengthen his case with the words of a famous author who wrote, “one of the most patent principles of Nature’s rule: the inner segregation of the species of all living beings on this earth … The fox is always a fox, the goose a goose, the tiger a tiger, etc … But you will never find a fox who in his inner attitude might, for example, show humanitarian tendencies toward geese, as similarly there is no cat with a friendly inclination toward mice.”
The author of this anti-diversity piece was Adolf Hitler (“Mein Kampf,” Volume 1, Chapter 11: Nation and Race). As history records, Hitler went on to use this justification not only for separating groups, but for exterminating them. He was also an expert on how to treat “left and religious leaders.”
Using nature to justify segregation is not only dangerous, it is wrong. Our entire planet speaks of biodiversity – creatures coexisting to create and sustain each other. Birds don’t quote “home rule” to expel butterflies, and we humans – latecomers to the whole process – live best when we nurture the plants and animals that surround us.
Personally, I would not want to live in a place with only one kind of animal, or one kind of plant … or one kind of person.
Rabbi Donald Weber
Marlboro