Dear believer

Imagine you sent out a message of love and you discover that the receiver is using your words to oppress and to murder in your name. Would you send out another one? So if your God spoke thoussands of years ago, and remained silent ever since, wouldn't this be the time to consider the possibility that He (or She?) isn't too happy with how you have interpreted His words?

Or consider the possibility that He is still speaking to you today, just not directly, but through the voices of all those who dare to speak out and stand up to oppression, violence and intolerance; those who risk their lives to protest, because they believe that their cause is more important than their earthly existence. Transcendence, you know, the thing that you claim is the prerogative of the religious.

People hardly ever sacrifice themselves for an opinion. They don't merely think that they have a right to say what they feel, they believe they do. It is a conviction. So by oppressing and restricting the freedom of speech, you are curtailing the right to practice a belief. You don't want anyone to do that to you, so don't do it to others.

I don't care what book you read or what God you pray to. But if He exists, then your critics are as much of His creation as you are. Don't make laws to silence them, don't make bombs to killl them. If you believe they are off the path, show them the way. If you believe they are doing wrong, show them how to do right. If you believe they speak disrespectful, show them why you earn their respect.

But if you decide to oppress and to use violence and to fight people for what they say, we will speak out about what you do, and the pen is mightier than the sword. But of course you already know that, or else you wouldn't try continuously to silence your critics and I wouldn't have felt the necessity to write this in the first place.

This world is not of your creation. Stop acting like you think you own it, because you believe you are buddies with its maker. Destruction and oppression are surely not what your God had in mind.

Forgiveness is a virtue and if I can understand that without the commandment of a God, surely you should be able to understand it too.