As we prepare for another Christmas in the most free nation on Earth, let's remember those who have to deal with more than a few ACLU lawyers to celebrate their faith.
Joseph Morrison Skelly writes at National Review Online about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran minister who actively fought against the Nazis from inside Germany. He is an example of the many men and women who risk their lives and freedom to celebrate Christmas.
Skelly reminds us of a few of these:
At Christmas time in 1942 Bonhoeffer had circulated a long letter to his closest colleagues assessing a decade of resistance, later reprinted as the essay “After Ten Years.” In it he asks the question, “Who stands firm?” Today, there are Christians who quietly stand up to tyranny. On the morning of December 25, they will acknowledge the day’s significance. In Beijing, a husband will wish his wife “Merry Christmas.” In Havana, a family will exchange gifts. A minister in Riyadh will read the Gospel. A priest in Pyongyang will silently say Mass. These men and women, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, resist without fear. They grasp a fundamental fact about the intersection of freedom and faith, as true for Christians as it is for men and women of all religions. They understand that to be human is to know God; to be human and free is to know God fully.God Bless them.
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