I am very religious. Just by looking at me and having minor interactions with me, it's hard to pick up on that, but I am. And that's why it comes as a shock to people that I, of all people, do not tolerate religious jokes.
I was sitting in the front row of my history class and my professor began to talk about Utah in the 1800s. Now, being knowledgeable in my church's history, I know where he's going with this because my faith settled in Utah back in 1847.
He then makes a joke about my faith with an incorrect fact, so I correct him. He looks at me, kind of surprised that I know what I'm talking about, and also had the nerve to correct him. He said he knew that but was just making a joke.
I. Do. Not. Stand for religious jokes. Especially about my religion.
I told him it wasn't funny.
He said, and this is what kind of made me angry, "If I can't make a religious joke, then what jokes can I make?"
You mean to tell me that the only way you know how to be funny is to make fun of and put down what is sacred to other people? Are you serious?
He reassured me that he wasn't going to be making fun of just my religion, but he would eventually make fun of all religions.
Is that supposed to make me feel better? That you're not just going to single out and offend me, but you'd do the same to everybody else? Honestly, it doesn't. It makes me more annoyed.
Saying that you making fun of all religions isn't something you should be proud of, because that shows just how disrespectful of a person you are.
Making jokes about someone's religion shows you do not respect them as a person, you do not respect their lifestyle, you do not respect the trials and persecution they and their ancestors have been through.
The founders of my faith landed in Utah because they were not accepted anywhere else. Their religion was not accepted in a country that was founded on the base of religious freedom.
And saying they were not 'accepted' puts it lightly.
The men were tarred and feathered. They were murdered. The women were raped. Their children were left as orphans to eventually be persecuted like their parents.
The Missouri Executive Order 44 made it legal to go into their homes, shoot and kill them. This law was in place for so long, and was so widely accepted that it was eventually forgotten about until 1975 where the law, making it legal to kill my people, was exterminated.
And it's not just about my religion being attacked by this professor, because I'd still be angry and offended by his joke if he made fun of some other faith.
A person's religion dictates their lifestyle, morals, beliefs, actions, and sometimes even diets.
You don't get to disrespect that.
You do not get to disrespect the thing that they base their life on.
You do not get to disrespect the thing that makes life seem worth it.
You do not get to disrespect the thing that gives them comfort.
You do not get to disrespect what gives them hope.
You don't get to do that to them.
Just because religion isn't important to you, doesn't mean it's not the most important thing to somebody else.
It doesn't matter that you make fun of every religion. That just shows you don't have respect for anyone.
