Going to college is an eye-opening experience in many ways. You may realize that you’re not as prepared as you thought you’d be for the rigorous college classes ahead of you. One can also come to the realization that you’ve been very sheltered, and that there is an entirely different culture out there than the one you’ve grown accustomed to. Personally, my college experience has been a mix of both. Going from a small private high school to a large secular university has been quite the rollercoaster ride. My classes went from having less than 20 people in them to having more than 200 students, and with that many people in one place, it’s easy to realize how strikingly different you all are. Each person you come in contact with has a particular set of circumstances that led them to this place we call college, and those circumstances have shaped their worldview as well. My classes have made me realize that the vast majority of college students harbor bitterness towards Christianity as a whole due to the Christians they’ve come in contact with. My plea to those of you who fit that category is simply this: please forget your qualms with Christianity while I take a moment to explain why we act the way we do.
Homosexuality
Contrary to popular belief, we believe that all people are important. That includes homosexuals. Although we believe that homosexuality is a sin, that absolutely doesn’t mean all gay people are going to hell and that if you’re gay, all Christians hate you. Divorce is also a sin. Do we hate divorced people? Of course not.
Abortion
One of the fundamental beliefs Christians hold is that we are all made in the image of God. Because all human beings are important, beautiful, and made in God’s image, we believe that all lives are worth a ton. Most Christians believe that life begins at conception, and therefore believe that fetuses are humans too. If you thought babies were being killed, you’d probably be pretty upset too. Most Christians’ disagreement with abortion is rooted in the belief that fetuses are humans too, it is absolutely not because we hate women.
Women
Christians do not hate women. We know this because there are so many extremely important women in the Bible. The Bible even teaches that men and women are equal in value, they just have different roles. This does not mean that women are worth less or have less right to life and joy. Also, you don’t have to be a dependent, meek little flower if you’re a woman. Be brave. Be intelligent. Be strong.
Sex
Christians believe that sex is extremely important and precious because it was created by God. It’s not spiritually or physically healthy for men or women to do it with a ton of people because that would be abusing the gift God has given us. We believe that sex should be kept within a marriage; we don’t make the rules, we just do our best to follow the ones God gives us.
Science
A popular argument against Christianity is that God and science can’t coexist, which makes absolutely no sense. Just because we believe that God created everything and a relationship with Him is the only way to Heaven, absolutely does not mean that Christians don’t have a place in the academia. To those of you who aren’t religious: you probably think not believing in God is the only sensible thing, right? Christians believe the opposite of that, but that does not make us ignorant. Please don’t hate us for having different views and we will do the same for you.
Hate
Apparently Christians hate a lot of people, but the Bible calls us to “love your neighbor as your self.” The whole point of the Bible and our religion is love because we believe God is love. We aren’t supposed to hate people, ever. We do not think we’re better than you, and we also aren’t perfect.
