I wish to thank the Arab News for its honest reporting on the brutal and savage murder of a young American by the name of Matthew Shepard. It is always a comforting reassurance that the Arab News has enough journalistic professionalism to not be blindly animated by the sort of hatred and bigotry that was so very evident in the savage beating to death of a young student.

First of all, I wish to send my sincerest condolences to the parents of Matthew Shepard. The loss of a loved one is a loss filled with painful emotions, especially when the loss is a result of murder, and I hope that the guilty parties are punished to the full extend of the law. I am glad that in this tragedy, people from all walks of life have come together to condemn this most heinous murder, as well as to affirm their support for the values of civility, tolerance and mutual respect toward all people. It is unfortunate that there are still people around that choose to follow a path of extremism and even terrorism against people. It is even more unfortunate that these same people cloud their brutality, bullying and bigotry by claiming to be doing it all in the name of moral values.

Hatred is something that is difficult to find reason to it, because there is no reason for it. Yet children are not born to hate other people; they are taught to hate other people.

Hatred can be due to differences in race, creed, ethnic or national background, class or in the case of Matthew Shepard sexual orientation but it is still hatred, and it is still wrong! Poet Edna St. Vincent Millary said it best when she wrote "Let us forget such words and all they mean, as Hatred, Bitterness, Rancor, Greed, Intolerance, Bigotry. Let us renew our faith and pledge to man his right to be himself, and free."