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Dear Rep. Davis:You do not represent me, but you have affected me as a citizen of this country.On April 3rd, you told atheist Rob Sherman, "You have no right to be here!"You launched a tirade against him for not believing in God. You did this not as a private citizen, but in your official capacity as an elected representative of the citizens of Chicago. Your behavior was utterly outrageous for one of our democratically elected leaders. And yet you've shown no shame.No apology. No explanation. Not a single word.You should be deeply ashamed, as an American, as a Christian, and as a human being. I feel sympathy for you. I truly do. I can only imagine that your vitriol came from a deep-rooted fear of atheists. It must be a terrible thing to live with so much fear. But that doesn't excuse your ignorance or your actions.Atheists are part of your constituency. You represent them. You cannot do so effectively when you scream at one of them that he has no right to be testifying before his own government.Atheists are human beings. We have a moral compass, just as you do. We live, we love, we feel. Our lack of belief in a deity does not in any way minimize our humanity, or make us dangerous to you. Do not mistake a desire to see church and state safely separated for the desire to destroy all religion. The vast majority of us have no issue with what others choose to believe. We do take issue with those who would force their faith on us. We most certainly take issue with those who would tell us we have no right to petition our own government.I want you to reflect, and pray, and consider what happens when a population is dehumanized, ostracized, and condemned by virtue of their creed. I'm sure you have a basis for comparison. Christianity, after all, was once a reviled faith until it grew strong enough to oppress in its turn.You owe your city, your state, and your country an apology, but you owe one to your savior most of all. From what Iunderstand of him, he preferred compassion to condemnation.Sincerely,Dana Hunter
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