Rule No. 1 when you’re expressing an opinion should probably be “don’t ever compare something with Nazis and the Holocaust.”
That’s because whatever your comparison is, it will likely be in no way related to what happened during the Holocaust.
It will also be insulting to the memories of those who died in that genocidal madness.
For example, being upset about the City of Burnaby’s rules in regards to its parks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Steve in Burnaby” wrote in with a terrible defence of “Ken in Burnaby” – the long-time Burnaby resident who refused to walk the correct way while on the Deer Lake trail. You can read that column here, but basically Ken thought it unfair to make people walk one way on this trail.
“Steve in Burnaby” agrees it’s unfair, but he didn’t stop there in saying just how unfair the city’s rules were.
He likened my column, the city’s park rules, and national health recommendations during COVID-19 with what happened during the Second World War, when the Nazis “convince an entire nation” that Jews and others should be “rounded up and murdered in incredible numbers, with zero shame, zero accountability, and zero morality … The doctrine you speak of is: follow what I say, for I am right, and only I can be right, and nothing and nobody can ever disagree with me’.”
Wait, what?
That really escalated.
First of all, as I said, that’s just a terrible and insulting comparison and “Steve in Burnaby” should be ashamed of himself for even thinking of it, let alone emailing another person with it. Being restricted on travel or some parks is in no way relatable.
Secondly, this isn’t a “doctrine” - it’s guidelines recommended by our country’s health professionals as they work to stop the pandemic in its tracks here in Canada and in B.C. Nobody is being brainwashed here, just educated on how to not get COVID-19 or pass it on to others.
“Steve in Burnaby” is another one of these folks that cries about how his “freedoms” are being curtailed, even though it's mostly about wearing a mask or walking in one direction.
Oh, and he added it’s a “leftist” agenda. He calls it all “fear-mongering” – meanwhile, we’ve just passed the 400,000 dead mark around the world.
I’d say there’s good reason for people to feel some fear.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
