Is the hottest place in hell reserved for you?

Does the 1st amendment of the United States Constitution protect hate speech?

When speech incites violence, I do not believe it does. Legal scholars should weigh in, but my common sense tells me that those who wrote a document as beautiful and as thoughtful to create a country with the ideals of America could intend to protect people who hate people who have a different skin color or practice a different religion so deeply that they are willing and inclined to kill and torture innocent people.

Like I am sure the vast majority of people who love America, I have been shaken to my core over Saturday's tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia. I thank Max Kellerman of First Take on ESPN for articulating my feelings and helping take me out of the depression of hopelessness I have been going through since learning of the news. Max quoted Martin Luther King, who sacrificed his life at the hands of the forefathers of these despicable creatures (calling them human makes me cringe as a member of that species). Reverend King said, "The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict." This is not about black vs. white, or left vs. right, and this is not "on all sides." This is the good guys versus the bad guys. The bad guys are easy to identify. They are the guys who are waving the flags of the Nazis and the Confederates. This country went to war to combat both of them...issues of great racial and religious bigotry. These people created the greatest atrocities in our history. Many lives were lost to defeat these creatures and defending the ideals of America.

I will never be quiet about this. I have fought as best I can my entire life for justice. I will not mince words. People of decency, I insist you get involved in fighting this. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, you need to come up with answers. This madness has got to stop. The stigma of mental health care needs to be removed and it needs to be available to all easily.

To propose a national budget removing $5 billion from the National Institute of Health and to propose a health care law that does not cover mental health is encouraging this sickness.

To deny higher education to anyone in this country who seeks it in the pursuit of happiness and a good job is encouraging this sickness.

We need to believe we can wipe out prejudice. To think otherwise encourages this sickness.

Call your Congresspeople. Talk to anyone you can. Fight with all of your heart and soul for the ideals of America. If you know someone who is hateful of a religion or a race, out them. Then try to find a way to get them the help they must so desperately need.

Above all, vote in the mid-term elections. There are those in our government who will not put their money where their mouth is. You have a say in whether this will continue or not. Do you want to be a part of supporting injustice?

Speak loudly next November.

Nelson Mandela: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate. If they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love." This is a man who was beaten and jailed for decades because he opposed apartheid in South Africa, the legalization of prejudice .

Let's make 2017 the year where the fruits of the laws passed in 1866 and 1964 are enjoyed by all who live in the United States of America. Let's all prosper.