Some last-minute Christmas wishes

One item on Christmas wish list requires a response from the federal government. Last December Ali Ehsassi sponsored a petition to repeal Section 296 of the criminal code, which allows prosecution for blasphemous libel.

Although it has not recently been enforced and we have the charter of rights protecting freedom of expression, we need to set an example for nations that have such laws, and enforce them.

All countries should respect religion, but should not have laws on their books that allow people to use religion to oppress different faiths or the absence of faith. In the U.S. there are laws that make it illegal for an atheist to hold political office. They make no attempt to enforce them, but with the crazy direction they have taken in the last election, I’m not holding my breath for the future.

This year we opened our arms to Muslim refugees who were brutalized by religious zealotry on their way out and stigmatized as terrorists on the way in.

Let us tell them that they can freely practice their faith in Canada because we value freedom of expression and modern civilization does not condone laws that penalize religious discussion. Russell Pangborn, Keswick, Ont. The festive season has been overshadowed with a world without love. The daily carnage in Aleppo, Syria, where thousands of innocents are being slaughtered in what the UN called a “Meltdown of Humanity.” The daily war of words between the two superpowers in the so-called “cyber” warfare could very well escalate into reality à la H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. And then we have Donald Trump soon to become the president of the most powerful nation on Earth.

Let’s look forward to 2017 with hope rather than hopelessness. Max Desouza, Toronto