Growing up in rural Tennessee, I have never doubted the importance of religion. In fact, as a Christian myself, I can sympathize quite a lot with the connection people feel to a higher power. I try to pray every day and find it a pivotal practice in my life. Given this, never did I think I would on the receiving end of so much hatred from fellow Christians though for simply following the constitution.

For the past two years, I have attended a small community college in Tennessee largely without incident. Eventually, I was blessed to have the chance to serve as SGA President for the school. There was one practice at the school which had long attracted the attention of some students and faculty members and that was the inclusion of administration led public prayer at the graduation ceremonies. At first, I saw no reason to get involved in the issue. I was a Christian so why would I be opposed to allowing the inclusion of a Christian prayer at such a momentous time as graduation? However, as I talked to more people who vouched for the removal of prayer, I began to reconsider. They were not looking to spite prayer, but rather their arguments were based in the idea of the separation of church and state based in the 1st amendment of the Constitution. Should Muslim or Atheist students be forced to participate in such a prayer? These revelations led me to endorse the position removing prayer and replacing it with a moment of silence. I knew that many students including myself would still want to pray and this was seemingly a way to move forward that would allow all faiths or lack thereof to have an equal playing field.

I attempted to pass a resolution through our SGA Association only to be blocked by members of the college administration who told me that it wasn't my place to make that sort of decision. I was furious to say the least and quickly drafted a letter to the school arguing the legal basis for my group's request. This time, I decided to also contact the local media hoping that the added pressure would force the hand of the school. It worked. Within a few days, the school announced that a moment of silence would take place instead. I thought the ordeal was over. I was wrong.

So called "Christians" sent messages of hate attacking my faith, sexuality, motives, and more. Members of my supporting group were labeled as "heretics," some local churches denounced our action as "against God." We were attacked by other students, faculty members, and even prominent conservative figures in the area. One petition labeled our movement as a "hate group," that petition garnered nearly 500 signatures. After failing to appeal the decision, one outside group attempted to disrupt graduation by shouting Christian phrases during the Moment of Silence.

Threats of violence and protests followed until the night of graduation. We didn't have to wait long to find out what would happen. The first item on the agenda was the scheduled moment of silence. As it began, two men shouted "Lord's Prayer" hoping to encourage the rest of the audience would do so as well. They didn't. The moment of silence continued unimpeded as did the rest of the night.

Again, I thought the fight was over. For all the hate I was continuing to receive, I was also seeing tremendous support and love from many. Then, a month after the graduation ceremony, a local county commission considered halting the donation of a police cruiser to the college because they had removed prayer citing "Christian beliefs" as their reasoning for hesitation. I was beside myself in anger and confusion, these people were willing to put lives at risk not because they weren't able to pray, but because they weren't able to have their personal religion placed above all others. Luckily, after more media scrutiny the car was donated with most commissioners choosing to vote in favor.

The attacks continue to this day and this article may not do anything to lessen that, but if it helps explain to one person why from a Christian or even just a humanitarian perspective that this was the right move, then I feel it important to publish. A Christian should not feel so insecure as to believe that their personal prayer be placed above all other, but rather trust in God that a silent prayer and their own connection is enough. As a lover of both Christianity and the Constitution, I stand by my decision 100% and cannot thank enough those who have stood by me as well as the ACLU and FFRF for their continued support of the situation.