Oh, and to top it all off, I’m a Christian. It’s true. Those four defining adjectives have a tendency to rub people the wrong way. We live in a country where we have the freedom and ability to say or write what we believe, as long as those beliefs don’t offend anyone. Many times you hear those adjectives you equate straight with bigot; white with racist; conservative with uneducated redneck; Christian with judgmental. However that isn’t the case at all.
These equated terms are due to how the media presents different groups of people. Media tends to focus on the bad apples in every group. For instance, I’m white so I hate all people of color. “When are we building the 'Great Wall of America' and deporting everyone?” Need I remind you that if you’re white, you’re of European descent, which were the first illegal immigrants? I know you’ve taken a basic history course at some point in your life so I won’t go into all of that. Our country was founded on immigrants and we haven’t been referred to as a melting pot for no reason. Racism is a problem with every ethnicity. I’m straight so I obviously hate all of the LBGT community, but I don’t. With that being said, me being a straight Christian doesn’t mean I am a bigot either. I may not agree with the entire agenda of the LBGT community, but I don’t condemn members of the group. Christianity calls for you to love, not hate, those who share different beliefs than you. Since I’m a conservative, I am an uneducated, ignorant, redneck. Between politics' and the media’s agenda, those who share unlike values are pitted against each other.
When you see a stranger on the street you judge them by their appearance. Then, once you learn what their stances are on social issues, you mostly likely judge them based on that. But those stances aren’t the things that define any single person. I am a daughter, a sister, a student, a friend, a mentor, a role model, but I am not the person that is described when you hear those terms. I am not a bigot, racist, judgmental, uneducated redneck. When you believe in something stand by it, but do not allow the negative connotations to define you because that is not who you are. You will encounter diversity every single day of your life; it’s how you handle those encounters that define you. If you, regardless of your adjectives used to describe you, are an intolerant, judgmental racist, then that’s who you are, not the group of people that shares your beliefs.
