Back in high school, I elected to take AP Language and Composition my junior year, not having any idea how the class and the teacher who taught it would eventually impact me. This class instructed me on much more than how to become an exceptional writer. It shaped the way that I present my views and my thoughts. It taught me how to effectively take my opinions from abstract bubbles in my head and form them into words that can be used to persuade and to mold the way that I present myself and the way my peers think of me. It turned my love for arguing into a skill that I will utilize for the rest of my life. And most importantly, it placed me with a teacher whose passion not only for education itself, but for the specific individual students that he teaches would prove to be almost unparalleled for years to come. I will forever appreciate the constant support that this teacher gave me even when I felt that the rest of the world was against me.

For years, I had felt hated and targeted by many of the classmates who took AP Lang with me. I was and am a Christian, and I was very public about the way that I believed. As I explain in my piece below, coming into public school in 8th grade, there had been times in which I was unintentionally forceful in expressing my beliefs to others, and my peers, many of them nonbelievers, had grown resentful of me. There were a number of twitter wars that ensued and ultimately I was left feeling very alone. I recognize that this was, in some ways, my own fault. Consequently, I was targeted and poked at and made fun of for much of my high school career.

Toward the middle of the first semester of the class, the teacher assigned us a several-week project that ended with each of us writing and giving a speech on a controversial topic of our choosing. Most of us were terrified. We were given a list of several ideas for these topics, but also the option to come up with our own idea and present it to the teacher. After at least a few days of having no earthly idea what I would write on, I came up with the topic of Christian shaming. While I had been specifically targeted for my own beliefs, I had noticed a growing resentment toward Christians in the media as well as my own personal environment and I believed that it needed to be addressed. I presented it to my teacher, who agreed that he had noticed some of the same things, and placed his full support in my speech and my underlying purpose in writing it. For the first time, my peers would have to give me their undivided attention and listen to what I had to say. So I got to work.

The following is the product of that work. I did not alter it from the way that I presented it almost three years ago, so please understand that it is specifically directed to a room full of 16 year olds who pretty much hated me. I would say that I did my best.

Christian Shaming

“Bible Thumper”, “Holy Roller”, “Jesus Freak”, “Little Miss Perfect”, “Homophobe”, “Hypocrite”. Numbers cannot express the number of times in my life that I have been the target of these terms, most being more far-fetched and divergent from reality than one can imagine. By this point in my life, I have become accustomed to tuning most of them out. A few, however, still tend to hit home every now and then.

From the time I was born, my parents carried me to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening that they found possible. I was raised on stories of David and Goliath, Cain and Abel, and a sweet baby boy, born to a virgin inside a stable in the little town of Bethlehem. The vast majority of you will roll your eyes at the mention of these, but I will forever hold them near to my heart as the basis of the faith I have grown to believe in. Being homeschooled through seventh grade, and even involved in a Christian-based homeschool group, I was not exposed to a world of Atheism and Agnosticism until late in middle school when most people my age had either decided their faith, or lack thereof, for themselves, or were beginning to wonder and question just what their beliefs were. That being said, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I started out speaking how I had always spoken, acting how I had always acted, and representing myself how I had always represented myself. This, as many of you well know, meant making my faith known well and clear, both to those who were willing to listen and those who were not. I made it my mission to spread God’s word no matter the cost, causing many to think of me as a forceful-religious person who did not hesitate to shove my faith as far down peoples’ throats as possible. The regurgitation that often followed is a significant part of what causes me to be the first to admit that I was wrong in doing this. Some of you in this audience have been the victims of my forcefulness at times, and for that I sincerely apologize. In fact, looking back on how I acted often makes me want to throw up, myself. Even having experienced this reaction, I never truly realized what I was up against until I reached high school, where I was very quickly informed that it was not okay to be a Christian. Anyone of any other set of beliefs could display their opinions and be tolerated, quite often even commended, but the second I opened my mouth to speak of my own, I was opening myself to eye-rolling, scoffing, and often flat-out hatred. This is an issue that has not subsided. Just the simple mention of the Bible causes me to be viewed as if I’m stating that I fully support ISIS, or the killing of puppies.

It would be immensely foolish to believe that I am the only one who experienced this sort of ridicule for expressing my Christian beliefs. It is well known that there are many countries that a Christian cannot set foot in without being burdened by the fear that he will let God’s name slip from his mouth too loudly and find himself sitting in prison or often even executed. For this I am thankful to be a citizen of a country that provides me with the religious freedom to go to the church of my choosing and carry my Bible, but the first amendment does not excuse me from being publicly persecuted by both my peers and society as a whole. It would be equally foolish to believe that I am a part of the only religion that experiences persecution, but it cannot be denied that the level of hatred toward Christians has elevated notably over recent years. It would be doubly foolish to believe that many of the people inflicting this persecution upon me and other religious people entirely refrain from displaying their own beliefs the same way we do.

Although other believers and I are protected by the Bill of Rights to believe as we please, we are in no way excused from being discriminated against. For instance, Bradley R. E. Wright wrote in his article “Your Faith Might Cost You Your Next Job” (Wright) of a large-scale field study that he and his colleague Michael Wallace conducted in which they made several resumes of fictitious job applicants and mentioned eight different religions in only one word in each and sent them to 2,400 employers. Their results showed that for every 100 resumes sent, only 16.2 of the ones which mentioned Christianity received responses as opposed to the 20 for every 100 that the applications omitting being a part of any religion received. These results portray that not only can expressing one’s beliefs inflict social ridicule, but it can prevent him from making any attempt at a career. Townhall reports that in another instance, Ryan Rotela, a student at Florida Atlantic University, was ordered by his professor, Deande Poole, to write Jesus Christ’s name on a piece of paper and stomp on it. Rotela bravely refused, causing Poole to start a formal disciplinary action against him (Hawkins). Is this not in itself depriving Americans of their first amendment rights?

In addition, many may argue that other religions, such as Islam, are more discriminated against than Christianity. However, a worldwide study held between 2006 and 2010 showed that Christians are persecuted in 168 countries, making Christianity the most discriminated against religion in the world. Islam follows in second with 121 countries inflicting persecution. Regardless of that, it’s impossible to deny that persecutions of Christians in America have not significantly increased in recent years. 50 years ago, those who spoke out against Christian morals were generally reprimanded. In this contemporary society, speaking in support of Christian values can cause a public outrage. CBS News reports that Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson was interviewed by GQ Magazine and in turn was ridiculed for quoting the Bible when asked about his beliefs (Davis). He was even referred to as “a stain on A&E and his sponsors” for simply reciting a verse found in Corinthians. A&E went as far as attempting to have Phil banned from the show until his family expressed their full support in their loved one and his Christian beliefs and threatened to end the show altogether. The overall transition to Christian-hating is enough to make any believer’s stomach turn.

Furthermore, whatever happened to “The Golden Rule”? Many antitheists are quick to attack Christians for expressing their beliefs while inflicting their own beliefs onto Christians with enough force to move a mountain. Non-believers don’t hesitate to preach that they are entitled to their own opinions when faced by Christians, but does this give them the right to deprive Christians of possessing an opposing opinion? Often this deprivation is supported with accusations of hypocrisy, which begs one incredibly important question: is there anyone on earth who can claim that he is not a hypocrite? Everyone, at some point in their life, will do something they said they’d never do, and most people will eventually become someone they said they’d never be. Taking this into consideration, no Christian will ever claim to be perfect, or even close to it. If anyone tries to make that claim, he is not truly a Christian. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Admitting one’s sins is one of the key parts of Christian morals. I will be the first to admit that I sin on a daily basis, and that’s something I’m not proud of. I am no better than any non-believer. I do not think of myself to be more highly regarded than liars, adulterers, thieves, or even murderers. I am a sinner just like the next person. I do not look at myself any differently than any of them, I simply disagree with their actions and beliefs. No one has the right to judge any other because everyone sins differently.

All things considered, it cannot be denied that Christians are unfairly ridiculed. If you are going to proclaim that everyone should be treated equally and that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, do not persecute Christians for following the same proclamations. In the end, you can call me all the derogatory terms you can come up with. It will not make you any better of a person than I am, and it doubtlessly will not change my beliefs. If you want me to respect your opinion, I simply ask that you treat mine with the same respect that you desire.

Works cited

Hawkins, John. “7 Examples of Discrimination against Christians in America.” Townhall.com.

Townhall.com. 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

The Holy Bible: New International Version, Containing the Old Testament and the New

Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Bible, 1978. Print.

“‘Duck Dynasty’ Saga: A&E facing more Phil Robertson controversy.” cbsnews.com. CBS

Interactive Inc. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

Wright, Bradley R. E. Your Faith Might Cost You Your Next Job.” Christianity Today

International. June 2014. PDF.