Columnist wrong to stereotype conservatives

Adam Lederer did a great job in his article "Hate should not be common practice" (April 10) of illustrating by example the kind of problematic attitudes he was criticizing. His basic assertion was that just because someone labels a Web site as "liberal," this does not mean it fairly represents the concerns of a vast majority of people who would identify themselves as liberal.\nWhy then does he take this Web site's "suggested reading" as accurately representing the concerns of a vast majority of self-identified conservatives? That he does so is evident in that he says the attitudes expressed in those articles were enough to make him glad he is a liberal.\nHe might be surprised to know that a large number of people, such as myself, who identify themselves as conservative would agree whole-heartedly with the excellent paragraph he wrote about the importance of believing all people are created equal and should have equality of opportunity. Many conservatives, including myself, would also agree that racism and homophobia are wrong. It is, in fact, precisely the beliefs in the importance of equality and seeing another person as a person rather than a label that is at the core of our understanding of what it means to be conservative. It's too bad that Lederer failed to exhibit this in his article.