Letter Three

Dear Reader,

For all of human existence I have witnessed your struggle for justice. You have fought amongst yourselves for centuries, striving for different visions of what justice is. You become headstrong, disregarding your desire for justice in exchange for a desire to have the loudest opinion. You go through your lives fighting for your views to be validated and praised, yet in doing so you often contradict your own beliefs. You harass and belittle one another for having differences, yet you claim to exemplify tolerance and love. You hurt one another, you divide yourselves, you ostracize anyone who does not share your beliefs and for nothing more than your own foolish pride. 

My heart breaks as I look at your world. I hear you discuss your history, you speak of the abuses of certain people groups as if these injustices are not still prevalent today. Abuse is happening right under your noses, yet you stand passively, attributing them to a characteristic of a modern society. An example of the ongoing injustice is conversion therapy. You have taken it upon yourselves to hardwire individuals to believe and live the way you see fit. You make no hesitation when it comes to using drastic forces to ensure those individuals do not leave as individuals but rather mutations of themselves created to represent your beliefs. 

You utilize physical, verbal and mental abuse tactics, shock therapy and aversion therapy to convince people to despise themselves. You strip them of their individuality and mould them into your ideal person, teaching them what to say, believe, eat. You dictate how they should live their lives. You have no remorse when they are broken, you see the bodies of those who could not withstand your tactics and view them as weak for ending their own lives. You do not discriminate based on age, any person that identifies as LGBTQ is welcome to be “fixed” by your program. 

Many of you had no knowledge of this, you sit in shock as you read this letter. You wonder how people claiming to be Christian could do these things. I encourage you to show your disdain for these tactics. Do not let your testimonies be tainted by the stains of injustice. Regardless of your political opinions regarding the LGBTQ community, I implore that you consider the injustice that lives within conversion therapy. I ask that you find ways to take action against conversion therapy practices. 

You may not have the power to abolish all conversion therapy practices, however you can participate in raising awareness, sign petitions and show love to individuals ragardless of your differences. Give humanity and individuality back to those who hold different beliefs and convictions than you. Exemplify the understanding that you can show love to someone of different beliefs without changing your personal opinions. Acceptance is not sacrificing your convictions, but rather understanding that your convictions are not the only ones that matter. 

When you begin to accept one another I will progressively distance myself from you. Injustice will become less frequent and peace will become a commonality. In order to achieve this goal for society you must understand that acceptance is a two way street. If you expect others to accept you regardless of your convictions you must also accept them for theirs. I believe that when you begin practicing this you will learn more about each other’s beliefs, as well as your own. You will gain the ability to view the world through a multi-perspective lens. What a beautiful way to see the world. 

Sincerely,

INJUSTICE