OK. This blog began way differently. This is baseball All-Star season, when the best of the best are selected for the annual All-Star game. How about an \u201cAll-Rats\u201d lineup (Rats is Star spelled backwards) of this year\u2019s leading bigots and anti-religionists? What a clever idea, I thought. I would name them and their dubious\u00a0\u201cachievements.\u201d\u00a0A very on-point, in-your-face blog.<\/p>\n
But then something happened to me this morning. I was myself hated over my religious beliefs by a couple of people whom I thought I knew. And I must confess it got to me. So, I changed my mind and I changed this blog.<\/p>\n
Instead of dignifying haters by giving them names, I will post a STOP sign right here in cyberspace. In this little corner of the universe and for these few moments we spend together\u2014you and I\u2014no hating and no bad news is allowed. I will instead recognize the true All-Stars of this year\u2014people who have devoted or even sacrificed their lives for tolerance, decency, kindness, selflessness and help. A baseball team has a starting nine that take the field. Here are mine, in no particular order\u2014this year\u2019s true\u00a0All-Stars.<\/p>\n
Fred Rogers<\/h2>\n\n![\"Mr.](\"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=346\/blob\/images\/articles\/9\/5\/95206f36-911d-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/mrrogers.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nMore familiarly known as\u00a0Mr. Rogers<\/a>. Although gone from us since 2003, he is back in the conversation as a beacon of decency and kindness thanks to the documentary, \u201cWon\u2019t You Be My Neighbor?\u201d now in theaters. For over thirty years as the anchor and face of \u201cMr. Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d he made bold statements against racism and exclusion using a gentle voice and a light touch. Himself an ordained minister, he famously said, \u201cWhen I say it\u2019s you I like, I\u2019m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.\u201d<\/p>\nPicton, Ontario, Canada<\/h2>\n
A small community of 25,000, Picton not only insisted but demanded to house and sponsor as many Syrian refugees as could be sent there. In an era of exclusion and suspicion of \u201cpeople who are different,\u201d Pictonians\u00a0opened their hearts and homes<\/a>\u00a0to grateful strangers. One Picton mother of three commented, \u201cWe\u2019ve got four bedrooms, a basement and broad shoulders. What else is life about?\u201d A six year-old girl greeted the first arrivals with a hand-drawn poster: \u201cI love you. You can share my crayons.\u201d<\/p>\nTony McAleer<\/h2>\n
Tony<\/a>\u00a0was once a professional hater. He organized far-right groups and spent years recruiting skinheads. One day he realized: \u201cI traded my humanity for acceptance until I had nothing left.\u201d Now, using his experiences as a hatemonger, he helps others through his nonprofit,\u00a0Life After Hate<\/a>, a group that helps racists and bigots close the door on violence and make up the damage to those they\u2019ve hurt.<\/p>\nLuke Mickelson<\/h2>\n
Luke\u2019s life changed when he saw a homeless child sleeping on what he called \u201ca nest of clothes.\u201d He promptly went home and built her a bed. \u201cWhen we delivered the bed, she just hugged it and wouldn\u2019t let go.\u201d He was astonished to learn that many children in his Idaho hometown had no bed to sleep in. He quit his high-paying job, and founded the nonprofit\u00a0Sleep in Heavenly Peace<\/a>, which has the motto, \u201cNo kid sleeps on the floor in our town.\u201d Mickelson\u2019s dream has spread to other communities from coast-to-coast, and now includes training courses and construction manuals. \u201cYou walk in and these kids are just so excited,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cThey want to help build it. They want to run the drills. They want to bring in wood. Just giving a kid a sense of ownership, a sense of responsibility, as well as a good night\u2019s sleep, is tremendous for them. They learn how to take care of things. They learn value. They get confidence\u2014and they get a good night\u2019s sleep.\u201d To date, Mickelson\u2019s group has distributed nearly 2,000 beds to needy kids.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAnthony Borges<\/h2>\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=346\/blob\/images\/articles\/9\/5\/95206f36-911d-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/018.jpg\")
A sheriff visits 15-year-old Anthony Borges in the hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nA 15-year-old student at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School at the time of the hate crime, he\u00a0barricaded a classroom door<\/a>\u00a0and used his body as a shield as the bullets flew, protecting a class full of 20 students from harm. He sustained five severe wounds, lost one third of his lung, but miraculously survived. \u201cI\u2019m no hero,\u201d he said, thus officially passing the primary test of a hero. \u201cI\u2019m just glad I\u2019m alive. This shouldn\u2019t have happened here or anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Halifax, Virginia Police Department<\/h2>\n
The community-minded PD decided to forge closer ties with its local residents by enforcing a fictional \u201cVehicle Code 1739<\/a>,\u201d which makes it illegal to drive on a hot day without an ice cream cone. They stopped drivers, asked them if they were aware of the vehicle code, and when the nervous reply was \u201cno,\u201d they explained what it was, indicated that the driver was in violation of it, and summarily presented him or her with a free ice cream cone. A video depicting one such \u201carrest,\u201d complete with surprised laughter, went viral. Police Chief Kevin Lands commented: \u201cWe just wanted to put smiles on some people\u2019s faces that day. We\u2019re humbled with all the kind comments that have been made. We love our community and we\u2019re just happy to serve.\u201d<\/p>\nRicky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, Micah Fletcher<\/h2>\n
Hate crime rates in the country\u2019s largest cities have increased for the past four years in spite of overall crime rates declining since the early 1990s, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Hate crimes against Muslims in particular have grown proportionately, as well as numerically. They now account for 4.4 percent of all reported hate crime, even\u00a0though Muslims are estimated to be only one percent<\/a>\u00a0of the population.<\/p>\nRicky, Taliesin and Micah were strangers on a Portland light rail train. Their lives would intertwine when Jeremy Joseph Christian, a white supremacist, harassed and threatened two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab.<\/p>\n
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=824\/blob\/images\/articles\/9\/5\/95206f36-911d-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/portland-tri-met-max-stabbing-vigil-2.jpg\")
Flowers for the victims of the train attack at Portland\u2019s Hollywood Transit Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhen the three rose spontaneously to intervene, Christian violently attacked them, stabbing Ricky and Taliesin to death and seriously injuring Micah.<\/p>\n
Three men from different backgrounds: Ricky, a 53-year-old retired Army vet and father of four; Taliesin, a recent college grad working at a consulting firm; and Micah, a university student and poet whose works have addressed racism, bigotry and social justice\u2014all three strangers, yet sharing a willingness to stand against hate.<\/p>\n
Destinee Mangum, one of the two teens rescued by the men, said: \u201cThey put their life on the line for me, and they didn\u2019t even know me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWithout them, we probably would be dead right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Taliesin was being carried away on a stretcher, he delivered what would be a few of his last words: \u201cTell everyone on this train I love them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ricky John Best, who leaves behind his wife and four children, served his country\u2014including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan\u2014for 23 years. He once ran for county commissioner because he wanted to seek change in his local government instead of just complain about it.<\/p>\n
He added at the time: \u201cI can\u2019t stand by and do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chad Houser<\/h2>\n
An award-winning chef in Dallas, Texas,\u00a0Chad<\/a>\u00a0was asked to teach eight local juvenile detention center inmates how to make ice cream for a local competition. Houser saw talent, drive and enthusiasm in the youths. When one of them won the grand prize, beating out culinary professionals citywide, Chad had his \u201caha moment.\u201d In Texas, more than 40 percent of juveniles are reincarcerated within three years of release. \u201cThe system is rigged based on choices that were made for them, not by them\u2014the color of their skin; the part of town where they were born; the schools that they had access to,\u201d Chad said. \u201cI thought,\u00a0\u2018If you\u2019re not willing to do something, you\u2019re a hypocrite.\u2019\u201d To date, Chad\u2019s\u00a0Caf\u00e9 Momentum<\/a>, an upscale restaurant and nonprofit that incorporates a 12-month paid internship for young men and women coming out of Dallas County juvenile facilities, has helped hundreds of young people break the cycle of violence and crime.<\/p>\nJames Shaw Jr.<\/h2>\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nMore familiarly known as\u00a0Mr. Rogers<\/a>. Although gone from us since 2003, he is back in the conversation as a beacon of decency and kindness thanks to the documentary, \u201cWon\u2019t You Be My Neighbor?\u201d now in theaters. For over thirty years as the anchor and face of \u201cMr. Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d he made bold statements against racism and exclusion using a gentle voice and a light touch. Himself an ordained minister, he famously said, \u201cWhen I say it\u2019s you I like, I\u2019m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.\u201d<\/p>\n A small community of 25,000, Picton not only insisted but demanded to house and sponsor as many Syrian refugees as could be sent there. In an era of exclusion and suspicion of \u201cpeople who are different,\u201d Pictonians\u00a0opened their hearts and homes<\/a>\u00a0to grateful strangers. One Picton mother of three commented, \u201cWe\u2019ve got four bedrooms, a basement and broad shoulders. What else is life about?\u201d A six year-old girl greeted the first arrivals with a hand-drawn poster: \u201cI love you. You can share my crayons.\u201d<\/p>\n Tony<\/a>\u00a0was once a professional hater. He organized far-right groups and spent years recruiting skinheads. One day he realized: \u201cI traded my humanity for acceptance until I had nothing left.\u201d Now, using his experiences as a hatemonger, he helps others through his nonprofit,\u00a0Life After Hate<\/a>, a group that helps racists and bigots close the door on violence and make up the damage to those they\u2019ve hurt.<\/p>\n Luke\u2019s life changed when he saw a homeless child sleeping on what he called \u201ca nest of clothes.\u201d He promptly went home and built her a bed. \u201cWhen we delivered the bed, she just hugged it and wouldn\u2019t let go.\u201d He was astonished to learn that many children in his Idaho hometown had no bed to sleep in. He quit his high-paying job, and founded the nonprofit\u00a0Sleep in Heavenly Peace<\/a>, which has the motto, \u201cNo kid sleeps on the floor in our town.\u201d Mickelson\u2019s dream has spread to other communities from coast-to-coast, and now includes training courses and construction manuals. \u201cYou walk in and these kids are just so excited,\u201d Mickelson said. \u201cThey want to help build it. They want to run the drills. They want to bring in wood. Just giving a kid a sense of ownership, a sense of responsibility, as well as a good night\u2019s sleep, is tremendous for them. They learn how to take care of things. They learn value. They get confidence\u2014and they get a good night\u2019s sleep.\u201d To date, Mickelson\u2019s group has distributed nearly 2,000 beds to needy kids.<\/p>\n A 15-year-old student at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School at the time of the hate crime, he\u00a0barricaded a classroom door<\/a>\u00a0and used his body as a shield as the bullets flew, protecting a class full of 20 students from harm. He sustained five severe wounds, lost one third of his lung, but miraculously survived. \u201cI\u2019m no hero,\u201d he said, thus officially passing the primary test of a hero. \u201cI\u2019m just glad I\u2019m alive. This shouldn\u2019t have happened here or anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The community-minded PD decided to forge closer ties with its local residents by enforcing a fictional \u201cVehicle Code 1739<\/a>,\u201d which makes it illegal to drive on a hot day without an ice cream cone. They stopped drivers, asked them if they were aware of the vehicle code, and when the nervous reply was \u201cno,\u201d they explained what it was, indicated that the driver was in violation of it, and summarily presented him or her with a free ice cream cone. A video depicting one such \u201carrest,\u201d complete with surprised laughter, went viral. Police Chief Kevin Lands commented: \u201cWe just wanted to put smiles on some people\u2019s faces that day. We\u2019re humbled with all the kind comments that have been made. We love our community and we\u2019re just happy to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n Hate crime rates in the country\u2019s largest cities have increased for the past four years in spite of overall crime rates declining since the early 1990s, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Hate crimes against Muslims in particular have grown proportionately, as well as numerically. They now account for 4.4 percent of all reported hate crime, even\u00a0though Muslims are estimated to be only one percent<\/a>\u00a0of the population.<\/p>\n Ricky, Taliesin and Micah were strangers on a Portland light rail train. Their lives would intertwine when Jeremy Joseph Christian, a white supremacist, harassed and threatened two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab.<\/p>\n When the three rose spontaneously to intervene, Christian violently attacked them, stabbing Ricky and Taliesin to death and seriously injuring Micah.<\/p>\n Three men from different backgrounds: Ricky, a 53-year-old retired Army vet and father of four; Taliesin, a recent college grad working at a consulting firm; and Micah, a university student and poet whose works have addressed racism, bigotry and social justice\u2014all three strangers, yet sharing a willingness to stand against hate.<\/p>\n Destinee Mangum, one of the two teens rescued by the men, said: \u201cThey put their life on the line for me, and they didn\u2019t even know me.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cWithout them, we probably would be dead right now.\u201d<\/p>\n As Taliesin was being carried away on a stretcher, he delivered what would be a few of his last words: \u201cTell everyone on this train I love them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ricky John Best, who leaves behind his wife and four children, served his country\u2014including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan\u2014for 23 years. He once ran for county commissioner because he wanted to seek change in his local government instead of just complain about it.<\/p>\n He added at the time: \u201cI can\u2019t stand by and do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n An award-winning chef in Dallas, Texas,\u00a0Chad<\/a>\u00a0was asked to teach eight local juvenile detention center inmates how to make ice cream for a local competition. Houser saw talent, drive and enthusiasm in the youths. When one of them won the grand prize, beating out culinary professionals citywide, Chad had his \u201caha moment.\u201d In Texas, more than 40 percent of juveniles are reincarcerated within three years of release. \u201cThe system is rigged based on choices that were made for them, not by them\u2014the color of their skin; the part of town where they were born; the schools that they had access to,\u201d Chad said. \u201cI thought,\u00a0\u2018If you\u2019re not willing to do something, you\u2019re a hypocrite.\u2019\u201d To date, Chad\u2019s\u00a0Caf\u00e9 Momentum<\/a>, an upscale restaurant and nonprofit that incorporates a 12-month paid internship for young men and women coming out of Dallas County juvenile facilities, has helped hundreds of young people break the cycle of violence and crime.<\/p>\nPicton, Ontario, Canada<\/h2>\n
Tony McAleer<\/h2>\n
Luke Mickelson<\/h2>\n
Anthony Borges<\/h2>\n
The Halifax, Virginia Police Department<\/h2>\n
Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, Micah Fletcher<\/h2>\n
Chad Houser<\/h2>\n
James Shaw Jr.<\/h2>\n