Does anyone else face prejudice for their faith?

[Morraw]

I'm sorry if this seems like a pretty bizarre question, but this is something I've been wondering over the past few days; does any other teen on the site face 'prejudice' due to their religion?

Over the past number of years since I've come into High School, I've noticed the distinct rise of the more 'radical' brand of atheism amongst my peers who pretty much deject and ridicule anything that has to do with Christianity, especially after our new Prime Minister came into office (they're particularly adept at blaming many of his more unpopular policies on his Catholicism). They legitimately believe that many of the 'social problems' that my nation (Australia) faces (such as the distinct lack of science funding) can be pinned on Christianity, and that anyone who practices the faith are either homophobic, close-minded, or scientifically illiterate.

I actually used to be one of the worst offenders in this regard - I even used to call for "Christians across the world to be 'punished' for the actions of groups such as the Inquisition" - however, after I 'came out' to my friends about my new-found faith about a week ago I've found myself on the receiving end of this 'prejudice' (some people claiming that I must some sort of moron for "rejecting silence").

All I was wondering was if anyone else my age was facing these sort of insults, and how could I possible deal with it?

 

[grandvizier1006]

I am so sorry for what you've had to go through. They're mad at you for telling them you want to be a Christian now? Don't they realize how hypocritical and prejudiced they're being? (Well, apparently not, but still, I'm really sorry you're having to go through this).

I don't think I've ever really experienced prejudice for my faith, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day I did. I think the best thing to do is use this time to grow in your faith and realize that your new life isn't going to come so easily.

Unfortunately, as Christians we kind of inevitably face people disliking us, but thankfully our society doesn't advocate killing people for their beliefs.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:18-19

Hopefully you can find some older, wiser Christians who can help you in your faith journey. In the meantime, pray for these people that are mistreating you, and if it gets really bad there's nothing cowardly about reporting them to a teacher.

How did you come to be a Christian, anyway? Just curious.

 

[Morraw]

I am so sorry for what you've had to go through. They're mad at you for telling them you want to be a Christian now? Don't they realize how hypocritical and prejudiced they're being? (Well, apparently not, but still, I'm really sorry you're having to go through this).

I don't think I've ever really experienced prejudice for my faith, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day I did. I think the best thing to do is use this time to grow in your faith and realize that your new life isn't going to come so easily.

Unfortunately, as Christians we kind of inevitably face people disliking us, but thankfully our society doesn't advocate killing people for their beliefs.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:18-19

Hopefully you can find some older, wiser Christians who can help you in your faith journey. In the meantime, pray for these people that are mistreating you, and if it gets really bad there's nothing cowardly about reporting them to a teacher.

Thank you so much. Yes, there were a number of my friends who were pretty confused and pretty 'ashamed' of me after I announced I converted away from atheism (what can I say, it just seems to be such a big movement amongst Australian students); even my extended family have been more than sheepish around me after I admitted my new-found faith (especially my more radical brothers who seem to pin a lot of social ills against Christianity). Right now, I'm simply going to wait and see when this all brushes over (it was an uncommon event in my small group of friends, especially seeing as only around ~50 students in our school of 700 are religious), and during that time I'm going to spend my time ushering up the courage to visit one of my local churches.

How did you come to be a Christian, anyway? Just curious.

Well, before I discovered my new-found faith I would describe myself as 'as radical an atheist that you could find'. Seriously, it got the point in my life that I started to verbally attack one of my only Christian friends with taunts not-unlike the one's I received over the past few weeks (going so far as to half-heartedly declare that leaders of the faith should be "crucified for compensation over the worst of the Christian persecutions"), as well as argue that my science teacher was unfit for their position simply because they believed in God.

Last year, that all changed however after I finally decided to actually start researching the religion that I was criticising (I never even opened a Bible before last year), primarily by reading out the entirety of the New Testament after the Gideons Foundation came to my school and handed them out to year 10 and 11 students (the next day we went to school we discovered many had just been torn up or thrown away; something I can't stomach doing to any book). After a while, my position regarding the faith began to become much more 'soft', and after investing my time into reading the entirety of the Bible (as well as a number of novels by Christian philosophers) over the past few months I found myself questioning not only my former radicalism, by also my entire belief system .

In the end, I decided to fully abandon my former 'radical atheism' and accept the teachings of Christ, and right now I'm coming up to my first month anniversary of that fateful decision.

 

[siralex172]

God bless, hope you find peace with your family/friends and also that your school can see more works of the Lord.

 

[grandvizier1006]

Thank you so much. Yes, there were a number of my friends who were pretty confused and pretty 'ashamed' of me after I announced I converted away from atheism (what can I say, it just seems to be such a big movement amongst Australian students); even my extended family have been more than sheepish around me after I admitted my new-found faith (especially my more radical brothers who seem to pin a lot of social ills against Christianity). Right now, I'm simply going to wait and see when this all brushes over (it was an uncommon event in my small group of friends, especially seeing as only around ~50 students in our school of 700 are religious), and during that time I'm going to spend my time ushering up the courage to visit one of my local churches.



Well, before I discovered my new-found faith I would describe myself as 'as radical an atheist that you could find'. Seriously, it got the point in my life that I started to verbally attack one of my only Christian friends with taunts not-unlike the one's I received over the past few weeks (going so far as to half-heartedly declare that leaders of the faith should be "crucified for compensation over the worst of the Christian persecutions"), as well as argue that my science teacher was unfit for their position simply because they believed in God.

Last year, that all changed however after I finally decided to actually start researching the religion that I was criticising (I never even opened a Bible before last year), primarily by reading out the entirety of the New Testament after the Gideons Foundation came to my school and handed them out to year 10 and 11 students (the next day we went to school we discovered many had just been torn up or thrown away; something I can't stomach doing to any book). After a while, my position regarding the faith began to become much more 'soft', and after investing my time into reading the entirety of the Bible (as well as a number of novels by Christian philosophers) over the past few months I found myself questioning not only my former radicalism, by also my entire belief system .

In the end, I decided to fully abandon my former 'radical atheism' and accept the teachings of Christ, and right now I'm coming up to my first month anniversary of that fateful decision.

Wow, that's inspiring! I've heard claims of atheists being "most persecuted minority", but it evidently it's the reverse at your school. It's amazing how Christ can really change people

I'll be sure to pray for you and that your faith will be able to grow in the midst of all this. Don't resent the atheists that are unkind to you, and remember that you used to be one of them. If you don't understand something about Christianity or your faith then feel free to ask someone around here about it, myself included.

 

[WirSindBettler]

Just wait until you get to University. I go to a Catholic school yet the dorms still look like Sodom and Gomorrah. Holy moly.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

We have so few teens on here that it always puts a smile on my face to see new members. Welcome, Morraw! We're happy to have you!

I've never felt persecuted for my faith, but I've been patronized and metaphorically patted on the head like a little kid for it. Some friends, primarily older ones who are already in college or beyond, have made comments to the effect of my faith being something I'll grow out of over time. A friend recently told me I'm too smart "to believe in fairy tales." He said he was disappointed I hadn't "grown out of it yet." Another said it was his mission to "de-convert me" and has tried to make me feel like when I begin college next fall I'll be ostracized or ridiculed for being a Christian. I'm going to Stanford which has predominantly secular student body, but still has energized campus ministry groups that appeal to me. I don't feel like I will be belittled for my faith there because it's not something I'll be wearing on my sleeve but in my heart. I won't make others feel discomfited for their own beliefs or as if I'm judging them.

It's really only three friends - two in their 20s and one in his 30s - who are zealously opposed to me being a Christian. Other teens are respectful about it since I'm respectful to them. Part of the problem isn't actually my faith but their misconceptions of it. They judge all Christians by stereotypes, as if we're all the human versions of paint-by-numbers. I've rarely personally met any of the characteristics of the stereotypes, and socially and politically am actually more aligned with humanists and other secularists, but that doesn't appease them. Not all Christians are like Ken Ham but since he's been so loud his voice has drowned out others. In truth the majority of Christians today do not have conflicts between science and their beliefs so the assumptions that are made for us all are false. I've told them that one of the most prominent living scientist in the world is Dr. Francis Collins, who is an evangelical Christian, the former director of the Human Genome Project, and current director of the NIH. My dad and literally half my family members are scientists or physicians and Christians. More importantly, I've fully committed myself to learn science wholly and have never felt like my faith was in any way an impediment. Having faith doesn't entail deactivating your brain or closing your eyes to evidence of science. I actually think that science can help bring us closer to God because it better enables us to understand his marvelous creations. And not all of us are at all like the characters of filmmakers behind God's Not Dead, yet somehow I'm belittled because of that movie where all the characters have the depth of cardboard cutouts.

There's a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that resonates with me. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." My faith is my own. Your faith is yours. Cultivate it. Cherish it. Claim it. Do try to be mindful about how, when, where, and why you share it. You can let your light shine without it feeling like a spotlight pointed directly into someone's eyes. Being mindful and considerate about how you discuss your faith and making an effort to not offend others in the process can help them to understand what it means to you. Think through not just what you mean, but how the comments might be perceived. Giving respect doesn't always mean you'll receive it in return, but it definitely increases your odds that you will.

 

[Rachel96]

Hi Morraw,

A few months later - how's it going? I hope your friends have had time to get used to your new faith now.

While I don't have any real personal experience with this, I know that my sister, who's in Year 12 now, has been facing these problems ever since she went back to face-to-face school in the city in Year 10 (we're sort of SOTA kids, and there's a lot less discrimination when you're over the telephone several hours a week! Besides which, country kids... almost incapable of being rude, it seems). Her friends are usually pretty accepting now, and she has one or two Christians in her friendship group, including one former homeschooler, and a Muslim, but she gets a lot of flak from the other students - and even her teacher! She's studying politics, and her teacher is a very leftist atheist greenie who makes no secret of the fact that he has a bone to pick with Christianity and he considers my sister a "happy clappy Christian".

I thought my sister was pretty discriminated against at school, but I think you have it so much worse! Are you just at a normal high school? She's at a senior college (10-12) made up mostly of misfits who have left "normal" schools for one reason or another, so I think they're a lot more accepting... but so much more opinionated. I suppose you have something of a benefit in that you've been on the other side and know their arguments!

And on the matter of science, sort of building on what Artemis said, I don't know who decided that Christians aren't scientists and vice-versa. I'm at a bible college now, the only one in my year to have come straight from high school (well, I had a gap year), and I'd say about half of the students there have a degree already in some sort of science or mathematics. It leaves me feeling a little out-of-my-depth sometimes, but they're very knowledgeable about various aspects of science and thus far I haven't found that faith clashes with science at all. Sometimes with things that claim to be science, but not with the discipline itself, which is really just the sensible observation of what's around you.

Anyway, I hope things are going well for you,

from Rachel.

 

[thehehe]

Yeah, I had some little troubles because of my faith. You see, I'm from France -and the french people love to give lessons to everyone. This is more "fashion" to be an atheist or an agnostic our days.. Everything seems to come from the religion for french people. The problems with terrorism doesn't really help. Well.
I'm at the high-school, and in a catholic high-school, but I still have some troubles because of my faith. I'm in "terminale L" (I study specially literature and philosophy) and in this class, the students are mostly atheists and some of them totally against any form of religion. I often fight in philosophy class with another girl who was raised without any consideration for a religion and -don't know why- who specially hates Christianity. She always looses, thanks to my dear philosophy teacher, who is a christian just like me and realllly cool. Because of that, most and most young christians are ashamed of their faith. Well, I suppose this is exactly the same in your countries.. One day, an unknown spat on me at the exit of the Mass. But still, my class , mostly respects my faith and my friends defend me every time people laugh at me because of that. I'm proud of my faith, I suppose that makes the difference!

I hope you understood everything..

 

[thehehe]

I give a second life to this thread as I faced a very unpleasant experience today, when I heard one of my best friends talking about faith and mostly believers. We were in philosophy class (everything happens in philosophy class, as half of my schedule is philosophy in senior literature class), she was my neighbor like always. I was listening to the class while she was talking with the girl behind us and I suddenly heard from her that "every believer was a weak and insane person who tried to escape his/her madness by a faith". It hurt me so much. The girl behind us, one of my friends, saw my face and said later she wasn't talking about me. I asked her why I was supposed to be different of others believers and she couldn't answer. However, she apologised. My first friend didn't. She didn't see the problem. She thinks I'm crazy. The best classmate I ever had thinks I'm a crazy and weak person. It must seem quite ridiculous but I got tears in my eyes. To the point where my teacher came to me and asked me to stay in order to explain what happened. I needed him to confirm I wasn't this crazy and weak girl. He was shocked that a Christian teenager, in a Catholic school, is considered a mad person by her own friends. I won't let my friend down, as she is a brilliant and funny girl who is truly amazing, and as I already wrote it the best classmate I could dream of, but I understood as this moment that my own society doesn't consider myself as a "normal" person, and sometimes not even an healthy person. And it hurts.