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| #christmas (Photo credit: Isselmuden) |
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| English: Hanukkah menorah, known also as Hanukiah. Česky: Chanukový svícen chanukija (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Dear 2012,
Hopefully this letter reaches you in December. I write to you from the future. A future that is not as bright as you might imagine. No the future being dim doesn't have any issue with the current problems you face with the economy. No it stems from another problem.
I my friends from the past am a Christian. To you this may not be a big deal, but where I am from it's huge. In fact I risk my very freedom writing this letter. There is no guarantee that it will reach you. You see it started innocently enough with things like "Say Happy Holidays. It's not offensive." We didn't even think to much when they started taking prayer out of schools. We could still pray how would they know if we had or not.
I now live in a place where celebrating Christmas is illegal. One could serve up to five years in prison for just mentioning the holiday in December. It's not just Christmas, but Hanukkah and kwanza to. We of different religions were so busy fighting each other we barely noticed our freedom of religion slowly being taken away. We were blinded by our hatred for others and didn't notice just how restricted we were becoming.
Banning Christmas wasn't difficult for the government. They needed a scapegoat for all that had gone wrong. They needed someone to blame for all the violence and all their plans gone wrong. They even made our hatred for other religions a weapon by saying a particular group was responsible for something.
They made it sound like Muslims as a whole decided to attack on 9/11 but the truth it was a few individuals who were brainwashed into thinking they were doing the right thing. Many Muslims were victims as well and cried along with us. They blamed Christians for the holocaust. Saying that we as a group had something to do with Hitler's sheer hatred for select members of humanity, but they fail to see the Christians that risked their lives to help those who desperately needed somewhere to hide. They used the harsh parts of the old testament as a reason to hate the Jews Failing to see the beauty in what they believe and the beauty of their culture.
I write to you know begging for all to open their eyes. Celebrate the season without fear. Fight for your right to wish some one a happy Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate this month. Say no to the restrictions and stand up for what you believe.
So many didn't realize what the loss of religious freedom would mean. Their are those who never believed in any God in jail just because they said God in a casual conversation. That didn't really have anything to do with belief.
Take the upcoming holiday and think on the future. For everyone's sake don't let them take your right to believe or not believe away. If they do than it's only a matter of time before unfair laws are passed or even a law were you are forced to worship your president like a God. Stand up and say no. I believe and will continue to believe. Your oppinons and what may offend you will not stop me from believing or doing what I think to be right.
Sincerely,
A desperate friend from the future.
