----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Carvalho <elisabeth_...@yahoo.com> To: "csfp...@gmail.com" <csfp...@gmail.com>; "cec...@vsnl.net" <cec...@vsnl.net> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 4:38 PM Subject: An Open Letter to the CSF Dear Christian Secular Forum, cec...@vsnl.net csfp...@gmail.com I am calling this an open letter because I shall be posting it on various forums, some predominantly Goan Catholic, so that we may dialogue. You do not owe me a response, although one would be appreciated, which I can also share on these forums. I currently live in London and as such was not familiar with the CSF or its activities. It is only the recent controversial case of Sanal Edamaruku which drew my attention to your organization. This led me to investigate your website and what I found there was most shocking. I shall enumerate below some of the instances of offense on your website. 1. Anti-Islamic propaganda I was appalled to find a certain video on your website which encourages deep xenophobia and targets the Muslim community. Such propaganda dehumanizes people based on their religion, creates a sense of siege and worst of all demonizes them. I append below the link to this deeply offensive video which features on your website. http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/63011019 2. Homophobic propaganda Linking homosexuality to pedophilia is disturbing. No civilized society thinks like this. This is the domain of fringe groups who fall outside the realm of all this is modern, progressive and forward thinking. You demonizing a section of society, and may I add a section of Christian society, in this lewd manner is most undignified. I append below this link featured on your website. http://www.thecsf.org/pdfs/homo-abuse.pdf 3. Anti-abortion propaganda Like all right-wing groups, hence it doesn't surprise me that you should launch an initiative to curtail the rights of women. There might be a multitude of reasons why women feel compelled to take these decisions. Your need to make them feel like mass murderers is unjustified and offensive. If you insist that you are a "secular" forum then you must let your personal religious feelings remain in the private sphere and not let it encroach onto the public domain in matters such as reproductive rights. I am unable to append the Powerpoint presentation on your website. 4. Anti-free speech I understand that your organisation was at the forefront in suppressing individual freedom of thought in India. I quote from your website. "The CSF besides other espousing a number of Christian activist causes, was also majorly responsible for Da Vinci Code being released late in India, getting it banned in some places and allowing it to be released with a prominent Disclaimer. Angels & Demons seems to be even more diabolic… read on & decide." If you don't mind, I would rather make up my own mind as to what I chose to watch and what I chose to reject. I am a fully grown adult and do not need censorship of this sort to assist me in my decision making process. Your suppression of free thought and free speech makes the name of your organisation an oxymoron. 5. The general aesthetics of your website Christianity is a religion of great visual and sensory beauty. We are the recipients of some of the most beautiful Christian art and music in the world. Hence, I find it odd that your website is dominated by gruesome imagery of Crucifixion and that too some bizarre human reenactment of this Crucifixion, creating an overall image of a religion in turmoil, pain, disarray and general mayhem. This is not the Christianity, I learnt on my mother's knee. To me, Christianity has always meant the serenity of a quiet Church and the solace of its private conservations with Christ. I am quite surprised that so many of the links you provide on your website come from Evangelical organizations based in the US. Might I inform you, that these Evangelical organizations are the most regressive organisations in the US. They are radically racist, deeply xenophobic and hideously conservative. They back governments that declare war at the drop of hat and believe in such nonsense as a literal interpretation of the Bible including the Creation story, debunking scientific evidence to the contrary. All the above is your prerogative, though, in a free world. You are free to chose to believe in the nonsense that you espouse. What boggles the mind is that you should file a case against Edamaruku denying him the right to be offensive when you yourself are truly and deeply offensive to progressive Christians. I have little doubt that you have a noble agenda. That you want to protect Christianity. But I have great reservations about your methods. They disturb me. And they should rightfully disturb all well meaning Christians. As a Christian, I implore you to drop your case against Edamaruku. I implore you to take away the offensive videos and links you feature on your website and continue which your main agenda, which I presume is to bring to light the victimization of Christians in India. Best regards, Selma Carvalho
