Letters to the Editor
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“Cultural Genocide’ Laid to China Amid Brutal Clampdown In Tibet’
I congratulate the Dalai Lama for his “peaceful” condemnation of China’s communist government and its efforts to suppress religious autonomy [Foreign, “‘Cultural Genocide’ Laid to China Amid Brutal Clampdown in Tibet,” March 17, 2008].
China’s Marxist government falsely presents itself as the authentic spokesman for the hopes and aspirations of the people, and claims to be able, though by recourse to violent means, to bring about the radical changes which will put an end to the oppression and misery of people.
In truth, atheism and the denial of the human person, his liberty and rights, are at the core of Marxist belief, which requires a total subordination of the person to the collectivity.
Marxism ultimately subsumes the autonomous nature of all spheres of existence: religious, ethical, institutional, and cultural.
James Madison recognized religious freedom as a fundamental right that precedes the state and that cannot be severely curtailed or denied by it.
Put more broadly, as Pope John Paul II said, religious freedom is the “first freedom.” It is “the premise and guarantee of all freedoms that ensure the common good.”
PAUL KOKOSKI
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
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