OPINION: Don't fight facts with name-calling

Frances Klein asks: 'What is it about Greta Thunberg that incites so much hatred?'

WHAT is it about Greta Thunberg that incites so much hatred?

Simply disagreeing with what someone is fighting for should not bring out the level of condescension directed at the teenage activist by some.

This is a person, in fact a teenage girl, who has taken on the giant puppeteers of the developed world with her message.

Is that is what is so rattling to some? Not that they disagree with the science of climate change - but that it comes out of the mouth of a young girl with a diagnosis of Autism?

If climate nay-sayers disagree then it must be with the facts, not with the social appearance, age or gender of the messenger.

Can you imagine if we were all as strong as this one Swedish student - who stands up for what she believes in on a global platform - on the podium at the United Nations Climate Summit, during international interviews and in an age where social media amplifies everything a thousand fold.

Greta Thunberg, whose social media-savvy brand of eco-activism inspired tens of thousands of students to skip classes and protest for faster action against climate change. Picture: David Keyton

If opposing white-haired world leaders or popular commentators had just an inch of the real strength she had they would not need to attack her traits.

Some may say her age and gender or diagnosis is a shield making her untouchable in a seemingly politically correct age. But only because it exposes low-blow attacks so transparently.

If those who disagree with the alarm bells she is setting off want to be taken seriously they need to meet this teenage powerhouse with the same strength and passion and clean conviction she has.

Failing to do so, ironically, is really the biggest win on the issue so far and hopefully a sign of what is to come.