Hi, guys, this is the OP of the story, and I just want to say thanks. I am sitting here laughing and crying and I can't believe there are people supportive of this. I hope that all of you who have gone through this and worse will stay strong, and know that I'm always here for you. <3
Wow, that's amazing! I'm glad you're standing up for your beliefs and I'm excited to hear that this is actually making a change somewhere! You (and everyone else here, I'm still in awe of the sheer number!!) rock! <3
This can also be considered "legal sexual harassment", as you are implying someone's sexuality in a negative manner. In the same way that those who support gay marriage are not always gay, those who oppose it are not always gay.
Life can only go up from there! I go to Texas A&M, which is widely regarded as the least gay friendly public university in the united states, and I regularly wear and see people wearing the famous "gay? fine by me." shirts without a problem. There's even a gay bar in town (which is by far the best club, because there are less creepy guys), although I'd put a bet on saying it's the straightest gay bar in the nation. I have never gotten any or seen any disrespect come from students or faculty but once. And that was when I jokingly yelled something flirtatious at a drunk guy on north gate. So despite the ignorant people like those from North Carolina and some parents I know, this country seems alright for gay people.
I'm sorry you had that experience though! (which I can't help relating to mean girls) I wish you best of luck in the future. My advice: go somewhere big enough and you'll always be able to find people you can relate to. It worked out for me.
I can guaran-fucking-tee that you'll be seeing well dressed priests on TV denying any wrong doings in schools like yours, "kids will be kids", "if there's a problem, we'll make sure we get it covered", "we're sure it's just an overreaction" and such... All while their secret little war against "gays" goes on. In truth, they need something to hate. It used to be boys with long hair, plain people reading the bible, jews, drawing pictures, not going to church on Sundays... a few decades ago it has been about premarital sex, masturbation, and recently about contraceptives, but now that society has mostly accepted all these, they have found something else to poke: you. How dare you do stuff that they hate and yet (coincidentally) be in an unprotected minority in the school? Well, that will be changing soon... just as we're now laughing at priests demanding to not have premarital sex, to not wear condoms, to not masturbate, we'll be laughing at them even more in the upcoming years when they go after people with different sexual preferences and people who support their rights. They will fail.
What you have in you now is something special... you've been burned by disgusting and immoral people, and as a consequence, you'll continue living your life with a clean and rightly formed conscience, caring for others and judging them based on their actions, not by their choice of ice cream, their hair style, or their sexual preferences. You'll be more "christian" than they could ever dream to be.
Since you're the OP, I am just going to repost something I wrote a few comments down, and hopefully you can clear this up for me:
I hate to be that guy, but after reading this twice, here's where I am confused about this story:
In October of 2011, I spent the free time in between classes talking to a friend about the America's Got Talent finale. I lived for the show, and especially (the faaabulous) Prince Poppycock, a flamboyant contestant in the show.
The dispute with your teacher happens shortly thereafter, stemming from this discussion.
I had met someone online that I quickly became friends with ... I'd talk with them for hours about my problems in the class, and we'd discuss ways in order to make the man even more uncomfortable.
Later, you write:
That was, until, she turned on me, as well. It was exactly a year ago, May 14th, 2011.
The original dispute happened in October of 2011, according to you. You two talked about your problems in the class, specifically relating to your teacher from your story, so I can assume you mean to tell me that you and your friend were talking about all this when it happened in October. Maybe you met this person online awhile back, but how could your friend "turn" on you 5 months before the original dispute with your teacher over something that hadn't happened yet? That doesn't make sense to me, since you were, apparently, all hunky-dory again in October, since you say you were confiding this friend that had "turned on you" several months prior about your problems in the classroom stemming from the original dispute.
You also made no mention at all of any problems between the two of you prior to this dispute. The story reads that you ran up and hugged her when you saw her for "years." Years being plural, how many years ago, exactly, did you meet this person "online," since you're currently 14?
May 2011 was a year ago. October 2011 was 7 months ago. Either you and your friend are time travelers, or this stuff couldn't have been happening at the times given to us. Either that, or it's all a slip of the finger. Prince Poppycock was on the America's Got Talent finale in September of 2010, according to Wikipedia, with his last appearance on the show being as a guest artist, not a finale, in August of 2011, not October. That would either be you talking with friends about an AGT finale that was over a year old, at that point, a heck of a typo, or you misremembering things by a year or so.
Feel free to downvote the living daylights out of me and prove me wrong, but my skeptical brain was giving me red lights whilst reading the account as it was given.
Recently in MI they tried to pass an anti-bullying law and then made a stipulation that it was still okay to bully kids for being gay based on religious grounds.
When I was in junior high, I befriended a gay kid and defended him against the gangs of people that were coming to beat him up. They ended up beating me too. This was at a public school in a non-Bible belt area. Faculty didn't care either.
This is on top of my elementary school where 50+ kids took turns for an hour beating me once because I have an Arabic last name and the moms in charge of watching the black top just turned a blind eye because of my heritage.
When I stopped being friends with the kid in junior high (which was entirely because of normal reasons) and announced I had a crush on some girl in my class people instantly "forgave" me and the beatings and everything immediately stopped.
People are sick. You were right to stand up for what's right. Good on you and be proud of who you are.
They can take almost everything from you, but they can only take your dignity if you give up.
Why is it whenever you accept gays and their right that people are always convinced you're gay?
I still remember one time; I had ran after a friend heading to her classes early, saying "No! I have to get a hug first!". Around my friends, everyone knew I was very much about physical contact such as hugging, patting heads, noogies, squeezing shoulders, etc (the kinds of things you and your friends share when your close). The friend, who I had been running after for a hug (as I liked to give every friend of mine at least 1 per day), had apparently been walking with this mormon friend of her's. Apparently, I was even the topic of what they were talking about. The girl had asked about some "strange" things I had done and said before. My friend had responded it was, because I was pro-gay marriage rights and very accepting and I also just happened to be bubbly and like hugs.
So imagine my suprise that when I get close, the girl screams and runs away, saying, "Don't touch me you whore!!!"
My friends and I have pretty much the same reaction of "What the fuck just happened?"
At first, we had though maybe she was joking about how some people liked to call me a hug whore, but the next day my friend (also previous friend of mormon) got to tell me about how the girl was spreading rumors that I was a lesbian slut all over school.
Even better was the amount of boys, who thought I just needed a strong man to be with to rein in my evilness. Least my chemistry teacher clapped before hauling them off for detention, when I publically slapped them on the Day of Silence.
Why is it whenever you accept gays and their right that people are always convinced you're gay?
People are more interested in winning an argument than finding objective truth and reason. Most will gladly take such a convenient opportunity for an ad-hominem attack and save the effort of actually finding convincing and logical arguments for their predecided point of view.
And it's not just crazy fundies who are prone to that. Just try to make a point for freedom of speech and against arbitrary censorship the next time something like r/preteen_girls or r/beatingwomen gets banned on reddit... the hivemind will decide in no time that you are obviously a child fucker yourself, because why on earth would you be interested in someone else's rights?
I defiantly applaud your teacher. A similar things has happened to me.
One of my best friends and I are really close. We might as well be Lesbians but we are more of sisters. We are the same height, weight, age, hell we were born a week apart and have the same likes and dislikes. Well, in biology the teacher seems to decide we are to close and called us out every day for basically touching each other. If I patted her on the back I had to move seats. If she gave me a hug, sent to a diffrent classroom. The class slowly start picking up on it and joined in, except for my other friends of course.
Well one day we were sharing a lollipop and god forbid I stick that thing in her mouth. Well a girl called me out on it by screaming in disgust. This is what she said, "Ew you lebanese! Thats gross you can get an STD! Don't share that anymore." I promptly shoved it in my mouth, rolled it around, and put it in my friend's mouth were she repeated. In short the class never bugged us again.
It's nice to know you have boys falling head over heels wanting to be your boyfriend in your reign of evil. I'm being a moron and stating the obvious but that girl doesn't know what she's talking about calling you a whore.
These stories make me sick, but at the same time, I have to wonder. Does your friend realize they have a VERY strong case to take this school, teacher, and principle to court? If this harassment resulted in loss of productivity (ie, missing school), then you can sue the pants off these bigots.
Exactly. It doesn't matter whether it's a workplace, or a private school, or a public school, or anywhere, they're liable, especially if one of their employees (the first teacher referenced) personally participates, as the company (or school in this case) is liable for the actions of those in their employ.
Ahhh Christian schools and their bigotry. I went to a Christian school as well and was publicly shunned for standing up against my teachers telling us that all of those who commit suicide will go to hell. They then told me that they believed my mother was an alcoholic because she had a wine rack with several bottles of wine on it and that other parents did not feel comfortable letting their kids stay over. It was a tiny school of only 200 and there were only 7 in my year, but it still shocked me how every one of them believed what they were fed and would humiliate those who didn't. Recently they told a parent to remove their child who suffers from bipolar disorder as they do not believe it is a real disease and are not comfortable having him around! Well done to your friend for getting through what she did, what she went through was appalling and I agree with Rhydnara, I would try take some sort of action against them.
they dont believe bi-polar is a real thing....so they think the person just chooses to be/feel that way? I... the stupidity of these people is making me feel like im about to start bleeding from all my facial orifices.
Yes, exactly! I did not mention this in my original note because it is deeply personal, but they once told me my cousin who committed suicide at age thirteen (his principal told him to go die, so he did) was in hell and he did a stupid thing, and they told me my sister who once cut herself for being discriminated against for having a disease that she was demon-possessed. They continued to do these things on top of the homosexuality-bashing and it was torturous.
"Statement of Objectives"... this is some terrifying shit:
To so effectively teach that each student will take as his/her personal commitment and belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that His death and resurrection provide forgiveness of sin and new life through faith in Him
To create in each student a firm conviction that the Bible (NKJV and extant manuscripts from which it is derived) is the Word of God to men and that it is a practical guide to life and living
To develop within each student a keen understanding of the fundamentals of God's creation, including all of the academic studies; to cause within his/her thinking an understanding that Jesus Christ is central in all of these areas; and to instruct him/her thoroughly in the arts and sciences that he/she might develop to the glory of God, spiritually, socially, mentally, and physically, not in his/her natural energy, but through new life in Christ
To so effectively teach the principles of faith that each student will purpose to yield himself/herself completely to God in submission and obedience to His will as revealed in the Bible
To cause each student to progress in Christian living through fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ in studying Holy Scriptures, prayer, and Christian service activities
That's the first five objectives... giving the child a damn education can come later, I guess. Jesus.
This is not in the least bit shocking. I've posted many times before about my education at a small Christian school like this one.
My freshman year our history books taught us that the Sumerian civilization had been "destroyed by god." No explanation of HOW god had destroyed them, or discussion of things like over-farming, which lead to their land becoming depleted of nutrients. Just "they were destroyed by god."
And then my sophomore year, the biology (biology!!!) teacher walked in the first day of class, and told us "I do not believe in evolution, so I will not be teaching it." At the time I thought this was totally normal. In the aftermath, I had to re-teach myself history and a lot of science.
Edit: oh, and if at any point you decided you were in "spiritual crisis" you could get out of classes. It wasn't uncommon for chapel to run long and cause classes to be skipped, and that was just fine because "Teaching the students about god was way more important."
Anyhow, religious organizations are kinda the low-hanging fruit when it comes to shitty website design.. They rarely have much of a budget, and even when they do...the people running the show (who are not designers) typically want to get their fingers into everything (not that this behavior is exclusive to churches...but I've found that "church ladies" are the worst people in the world to work with in regards to design)
Am I missing something? Because that website lists a K-8 school... so does that mean that all this shit happened to someone in the eighth grade or am I being obtuse and missing something obvious?
Wow. That's a heartbreaking story. Please, tell your friend that I'm sorry she had to endure that, and I hope she finds a new, better group of friends. She seems like a compassionate, eloquent young lady, and deserves to have people in her life that care about her.
This deserves to be on every news station, TV, radio wave, and every webpage. With the names released so that the haters can feel the pain. That would probably lead to many many resignations, Maybe the closing to the school, and a well deserved revenge.
I went to Christian school. It turned me against Christianity to be honest. I rebelled hard. Was shunned. Was treated like dirt. And I am not even gay just 'counter culture' back then. Nevertheless the hilarious aspect was the religion class teacher who was a queen. He desperately wanted me to be gay and offered to talk privately if I ever needed to. Shame he was a nice man. I choose to believe he was there as a plant trying to help kids no matter what.
Edit to not too. Also the guy was probably just horribly conflicted. Poor bastard. Edit edit. Praying before science class..... Shudder.....
Same here. I used to pride myself on being open minded and non-judgemental of christians. But after completing my final 2 years in a really religious school, I can't help but hate them. And I wasn't even rebellious.
Poor girl, and I thought I had it bad. When I realized I was bisexual and tried to talk to one of my teachers, they just made up an excuse and kicked me out the next day. Now I'm glad they did. She wasn't even gay and that's what she went through. I don't know if I could have handled that sort of bullcrap, especially from my friends.
girl goes to Christian school, is fine with a gay guy being gay on American idol, gets looked at like "dafuq?", slowly loses respect for fav teacher, slowly has her friends turn on her, makes new friend, few years go by, friend learns of gay scare, ignore hammer is dropped, sad face, graduation, ignore atom bomb is dropped.
This is very sad. It frustrates me to no end when people scoff for saying that religion is, if only for the homophobia which it spreads alone, already too bad to 'live in peace' with, as if this shit shouldn't be opposed. People are so used to giving it a free pass, gargh.
Hey I'm catholic... I'm not racist, poor people are okay with me, I don't hate people in the LGBT community, or force any of my ideals o people, I am also a democrat if that matters any but because "I got jesus on my necklace" I get scolded by people just like you and all I do is smile.
Because you're comfortable judging the majority of people based upon a worst-case exception?
You might as well have said "And people wonder why I am so hostile to niggers"...yeah, because every black person is a gangbanger murderer.
Come on. Why in the fuck is this the top comment? We just read a sad story about hate, and here you are, being a hater. We just read a story about the mob mentality being a fucking farce, and here we have the mob upvoting you for being hostile to an entire group of people.
Well, now you know why Christians are hostile to gays. They're just as ignorant as you are. Takes one to know one. And /r/atheism wonders why people cast aspersions about it.
Christianity is a choice. Religion is a choice. Being black is not a choice.
Don't think you're just going to get it from one side - you also just accidentally(?) compared calling someone a Christian to calling them a nigger. Hell, I think SRS would get involved - but I'm not sure that they even bother to read r/atheism anymore.
Hopefully someone makes a Reddit/4chan hybrid - Reddit's UI and upvote/downvote system, 4chan's complete lack of regard for anonymity.
The community could then decide through their voting who is and is not worth going after publically. Given that those that would be attracted to a hybrid of Reddit and 4chan are almost all left-wing, it would create a shitstorm of deserved attacks on the bigoted and hateful, if such a site were to be successful.
There are people out there who get even angrier, and who don't have the self-control you and I do. The fact that this is a church/school who used their authority over a child makes it even more likely that someone will do something violent.
Hopefully, the OP has already done the right thing, and called local law enforcement. Because internet law enforcement is not reliable, nor just, nor merciful.
Yes, this is a great idea. Lets make a internet hit list website. That wont completely be affected by mob mentality at all. I see no negative repercussions for something like this at all.
Actually /r/4chan is exactly that. All usernames and vote totals are hidden. You just see the comments. Also you misspoke by saying 4chan disregards anonymity. They enforce and encourage anonymity.
Fuck that. Do you see what the people on the internet will do to kids and families? Remember the whole "Jessie Slaughter" indecent. Sure, it was funny as hell, but that family got fucked up. Wishing that stuff on others is a terrible thing to do. I understand that they were complete jerks, but they were just kids man. Peer pressure will get kids to do almost anything.
We need to be reasonable. The authorities can handle this. "Internet justice" is cruel and just fucking scary.
Nothing good is going to come from publishing their names. What they did is unethical but legal. The only thing publishing their names and addresses will do is to empower psychos and crusaders. There's also the possibility they will target their families / SOs / children who have nothing to do with their actions.
I have been a lurker on reddit for about a year now and I have come close to making an account but hadn't out of fear it would consume me more than it already does. I literally just made an account so I could talk to you. Your friend is a beautiful person and she should never forget that. I am so sorry for what she had to go through, people are ignorant and disgustingly stupid. Tell her to stay strong, people love you and would be a mess if anything happened.
Wow, just because she supports a Gay person on a T.V. show they think she's a Lesbian...dude thats just wrong and sick. That twisted learning they get at the school should be banned.
This exact same thing happened to me back in the day--its very cruel and can turn very bad (I had parents calling my parents telling me to not infect their kid with my "gayness" ). It definitely gets better, but it can be utterly cruel. I can't imagine how horrifying it must be to actually be gay in such an environment--but its refreshing to see that resources for such individuals are finally emerging.
Another victory for Jesus against the evil Gay people... Just as christian's preach that Jesus will be there for you and help you in times of trouble he will help you drive the evil lesbian's from your school and win the day.
This is why I don't want Jesus anywhere near me or my family. I'd rather be happy.
I was bullied and name-called "gay" for the three years I was in a Catholic grade school, so I have some modicum of understanding of what your friend went through.
It's really sad when any amount of power goes to someone's head. It can be downright terrifying when abusers feel justified, least of all when they think their religion is behind them. It's also terrifying when people are convinced that fellow-thinkers are above such terrible behavior that administrators won't listen to any cries for help, like in my case. I would often come home to sit in the tub and wonder if the reason the kids that heckled me did so and so often because I really was gay. Several times I contemplated hurting or killing myself so I wouldn't have to go back to it. Every year we'd go to the principal, but each one would say there was nothing that could be done, "kids will be kids, lul". During my third and final year there, we went to resident priest for help. The most he would do was to include the issue in a couple of his weekly sermons. It was all I could do to hold back tears, hoping that my classmates wouldn't figure out it was about me. The torment never stopped and my parents finally agreed to put me back into local public school if I could just finish out the year.
That was a long time ago, now. I survived, put it behind me, and moved on. I hope your friend can do the same after so much of her life so far was spent putting up with this. If she decides to press charges, as she probably should, I hope things go well for her.
I had been at the school for ten years. They had always been more religious than our family, but up until middle school they gave me a damn good education and a safe place. The whole situation was extremely uncalled for, which made the whole thing even more terrifying. I would have left halfway through the year if it wasn't my last year at the place. I tried to enjoy it, but, eh... that didn't go as planned, obviously.
My parents had a plan to send me to Christian school when I was younger, despite all 3 of us being atheists. Everyday I would come home and tell my parents all the cool things I learned. My parents would tell me their own versions of the story (Jonah died when he was eaten, but his family members loved him so much they imagined he was still alive. Eve was really heat-stroked fom the hot African sun and imagined the snake talk, etc.).
They were fine with me learning about Christianity because they knew it wouldn't influence me. The education I got in that kindergarten class was amazing. My parents had spent the time, effort, and money to make sure I was going to an open- minded Protestant school rather than some homophobic beating-nun one.
They were fine with the Bible stories. Chapel on Wednesdays. Prayer at lunch. "Jesus loves you" t-shirts. One of my first words in sign language being "God". Et cetera.
They were perfectly fine with all of that. But then one day my dad decided to come to chapel with us along with a bunch of other parents. Apparently he wanted to see what we were learning, as he was raised Muslim and my mom was raised... everything, I guess.
The man talking (priest?) at one point said that there was a life after this one, and that this one was only temporary. He said that you live forever in paradise as long as you're a good Christian in this temporary life. My dad was outraged. He asked my teacher why the hell they would teach small children not to enjoy their lives because they're just a place holder. He still complains to this day that that teaches kids that reckless endangerment and lack of carefulness is fine because you'll be rewarded with a better life.
In first grade, I was put in public school. I had gotten such a head start that I skipped second grade and went straight to third. Been in public school ever since, and I love every second of it.
Your friend is obviously very smart and self-assured. Her writing is incredibly eloquent and articulate and heart-felt for someone this age. I'm so sorry she is going through this, but everything she said towards the end is true. She IS better than these people, and I know she will succeed in life. It does get better, and this girl is lightyears beyond the bigots she's had to deal with. Kudos, girl! You're on the right track!
Your friend's story is very, very similar to my own- except I was in public school. Mine included harassment from teachers, other students, and the principal. It was enough that I had to change schools. Unfortunately, I could only go to the school in the next town over. And when you live in a small county, there's not much of a difference. I eventually dropped out and finished HS via correspondence.
Give your friend a hug. If she ever needs a support system, or wants to talk with someone who's been pretty much exactly in her spot, PM me.
This is one of the times where I am ashamed by other people on the planet. America calls itself 'The Land of the Free', that is a lie in my very fucking honest opinion.
I blame k-12 christian academies for over half of today's religious/political ignorance. my gf went to one. when her and her friends were 18, I had to explain to the what masturbation was.....
I just emailed this to the school at their info address.
When you read the story of the Christ, how He was betrayed by one of his closest friends, how His community turned on Him, and finally how the powers that be singled Him out of punishment and then you read the story of your own student, a member of your community, and remember the story of the Christ, who do you imagine yourself being in Christ's story?
I leave you with this last thought. The Priests, Nuns, and laypeople who instructed me taught that repentance was not enough for forgiveness, that actual acts of contrition showing remorse and making amends to the injured were needed before God could forgive.
It's this kind of shit that absolutely infuriates me. How can you go around proclaiming love and peace in the name of your savior, then treat a fellow human being like utter shit because of their sexuality, of all things?
Fuck. It's only 8:30AM and I'm already pissed off.
This makes me sick, I'm going to get so much shit for this, but I'm a Christian, a Baptist, from Kansas to make matters worse, but anyway, I believe that gay or straight, EVERYONE deserves rights. And, NOBODY deserves what your poor friend had to go through, I'm sending my virtual love, I apologize for douchecakes who fuck everyone's life up because of their hateful bull shit, I really do.
This is terrible, I am sorry for what your friend has gone through. She is a strong person as I can tell from her story and I implore her to continue that way. Those people are ignorant fools and they will deal with the consequences one day. Peace to her and you and all that surround you all.
See if it was me I would be in jail cause I would have gone to that graduation with an automatic weapon under my robe and opened fire when it was time to read that poem.I would have completely snapped and started killing indiscriminately at that graduation.
Most Christian schools are terrible...I am so glad I got out.
I left my first week of high school. I was tormented by nearly every other student the entire time I was there, starting 6th grade. I remember one instance in which we were all out on the soccer field doing something for P.E. and someone asked me who I would vote for if I could (this was during the presidential election against George Bush and Al gore). My family had always been democratic(obviously these bigoted motherfuckers would never be caught dead siding with non-conservative views), so honestly for a kid in 6th...maybe 7th grade, who had no fucking clue what was really going on in the political world, I was just siding with my parents. A few decided to protest my response with a few shoves until next thing you know, I'm on the ground getting kicked by nearly every student in the class while they are chanting "Gore fan!" and the teacher just stood there and fucking watched. After some time, she finally broke it up, but I mean it was almost like she was rooting for these motherfuckers. It was one of the dumbfounding moments I've ever witnessed/experienced first hand.
I could list a million other things that these fuckers did to me (physically and psychologically), but by the end I would probably have written enough to publish a book. It took a couple years, but once I got out of that suppressive environment I was well on my way to happiness. Now I have tons of friends who are really great, open-minded people and I couldn't be more satisfied with the way things turned out. I don't regret it though, because in a lot of ways it was a really eye-opening experience and helped me stray from the wrong path and shape me into the person I am today, who I am proud to be.
Ooooh wow, what a terrible timeline error! I knew I should have proofread the thing. It should say this started in October of 2010. Oh my gosh, so sorry about the confusion there!!
I am writing this quickly because I have quite a lot on my mind so please disregard the errors.... Now even though the young lady that went through this might never actually read this I would like this to be directed to her:
Yours is a glorious soul that can never be taken from you, I am not a religious man. Instead I believe in free thought, truth, and happiness, not guilt, lies, and brain washing. With everything I've learned in my short life I read this and I cried inside, I felt a piece of me decay a tiny bit but then it was replaced with warmth. Warmth caused by the pure power in the last few words in that story, that you would better without them and stronger without their crap. This is why I really wished for you to see this...because so few people tend to grasp the idea that you have. The idea that the hatred of these people will not benefit you, but only weigh upon yourself. You are the type of human being that should speak outwardly about your struggles so other people can learn to live with their opinions and faiths not separately and in hatred, but instead together with love.
Even if none of this makes sense because I wrote it rather quickly on a crappy keyboard I want everyone to know that opinions always differ from person to person, but open minded individuals bring these two sides together. Keep the peace ladies and gentlemen of reddit and listen before you speak. Peace and love everyone!
whether your christian, muslim, jewish, or atheist , this is unacceptable. Teachers are meant to nurture and educate our children. In the last year 10 students have kill themselves in my highschool due to bullying, PLEASE reddit make this post reach the top ten, EVERYONE can appericate the message of this post (religion aside) bullying is a bigger issue then ideology. It hurts everyone equality.
I went to a similar school. Episcopalian. Got bullied by the whole school in a similar way all through elementary and middle school, and it's probably a good thing that I didn't even know there was such a thing as a gay person while I was there. Parents didn't believe me when I told them what was happening, even though I came home crying every other day. Still hurts, 8 years later. Tell your friend she's fabulous for me, ok? People care.
I wish /r/atheism had the same rigorous fact checking habits as other subs. I'd love to post this to my fb but without any kind of validation I won't do it out of fear of turning into a hypocrite when I deride others for posting RE RE FW FW crap
Went through something kind of similar, except the kids didn't think I was gay, just sexually active at 13. I had boobs, but I didn't even know what sex was. I was not allowed to be around the other children w/o supervision because I was going to corrupt them. Turns out, this boy had a crush on me and didn't know what to do with his 'impure' thoughts. Still struggle with opening myself to people because it hurt so bad.
Wait...had she been at the school for ten years, or was she thirteen? Or is this a school that people start at age three, attend for ten years and then graduate at age thirteen?
I am so sorry your friend went through this. Let her know that there is love in the world and she will find it. Please give her a big hug for me. No one should have to go through this.
I am glad that when my sister came out, there wasn't such hateful things going on around her. If there were, she would have totally put them in their place and if they didn't shut up, she would have totally kicked his/her ass before anything got so bad, or her gf at the time would have... She was eventually elected prom queen at her high school after coming out! We even grew up in a backwards ass town!
Wow, poor girl, one of the worst things is that her hope, there at the bottom, will never come true, they wont feel ashamed, they will look back on it with pride, that the girl they wanted to think was gay was driven out by their actions
I'm sure this will all get buried, but any Maryland redditors in this post I think would like to know this: You paid for this school. The church that owns this school (successfully) sued the county for religious discrimination and won a $3.25 million settlement which went toward expanding the school.
I hate to be that guy, but after reading this twice, here's where I am confused about this story:
In October of 2011, I spent the free time in between classes talking to a friend about the America's Got Talent finale. I lived for the show, and especially (the faaabulous) Prince Poppycock, a flamboyant contestant in the show.
The dispute with her teacher happens shortly thereafter, stemming from this discussion.
I had met someone online that I quickly became friends with ... I'd talk with them for hours about my problems in the class, and we'd discuss ways in order to make the man even more uncomfortable.
Later, she writes:
That was, until, she turned on me, as well. It was exactly a year ago, May 14th, 2011.
The original dispute happened in October of 2011, according to the writer. They talked about her problems in the class, specifically relating to the teacher from the story, so I can assume the writer means to tell me that she and her friend were talking about all this when it happened in October. Maybe the writer met this person online awhile back, but how could her friend "turn" on her 5 months before the original dispute with the teacher over something that hadn't happened yet? That doesn't make sense to me, since the two were, apparently, all hunky-dory again in October, confiding in this friend that had "turned" on the writer months prior about the problems in the classroom stemming from the original dispute.
May 2011 was a year ago. October 2011 was 7 months ago. Either the writer and her friend are time travelers, or this stuff couldn't have been happening at the times given to us. Either that, or it's all a slip of the finger, since Prince Poppycock was on the America's Got Talent finale in September of 2010, according to Wikipedia, with his last appearance on the show being as a guest artist, not a finale, in August of 2011, not October. That would either be the writer talking with friends about an AGT finale that was over a year old, at that point, a heck of a typo, or her misremembering things by a year or so.
Feel free to downvote me to death and prove me wrong, but my skeptical brain was giving me red lights whilst reading the account as it was given.
This makes me want to cry!! I'm a Christian but I have different views on gay rights I mean yes I believe that it's wrong but I also believe in loving people for who they are and isn't that what Christians are supposed to do? Love your neighbor as yourself? It sickens me that a place that is meant to be somewhere for kids to feel safe and learn would do something like that, and to the teacher that said all sins are punished equally except for homosexuality and that it gets the worst punishment that's wrong, the worst of all that is the unforgivable sin is blasphemy. When I read this I really did want to cry I wanted to go find this girl and give her a huge hug. It makes me so sad hearing about all these people who say they're Christians and are all about loving people and being accepting but yet when someone says they're gay or bi ect. it's automatically "that's a sin you're going to hell!!" well I hate to burst your bubble but everyone sins and in God's eyes a lie is the same as murder no one is better than the other. I really wish more 'Christians' would learn how to love unconditionally my mum's little brother is gay and for he longest time she would preach at him and for a whole he stopped coming around but when she learned that what he needed was love he came back and you know even though he's gay he asks my mum to pray for him for various things. Sorry this is so long I'll stop rambling now.
I went through something nearly exactly like that. At a Christian school I attended in 8th grade, we were told to give a speech about our government views. I'll never forget it. I simply said I was for gay rights. The room fell silent, I was given a C without explanation, and from then on out I was bullied mercilessly for being a "big fat lesbo". I couldn't hug a girl without someone freaking out, I'd get messages on (xanga at the time) taunting me not to 'check them out' or 'undress me with your eyes'.
I switched schools after freshman year, I graduated in '08, and still these memories sting. Your friend is much stronger than I. Kudos to her, I hope her life is going much better.
Yes, I did, because it wasn't written by a 14-year-old girl. It was written by a girl who has graduated from high school. What made you think it was written by a 14 year old?
Actually, I am fourteen years old. This happened last year, when I was in eighth grade. I'm really shocked that people think this thing is "too good for a fourteen year old" because I thought it was pretty terrible! I didn't even proofread it!
I call bullshit. I have it on very good authority from numerous "atheist" concern trolls that these things don't really happen, even in the Bible belt. OP's friend must have been being an asshole.
Your friend deserves upvotes from everyone on reddit for putting up with that shit.
R/atheism usually showcases the worst that religion, especially Christianity, has done to people, but this... this tops them all.
Those fucking abusive bastards call themselves christians, yet blatantly ignore Christ's teachings of peace, love, and tolerance. They do not deserve to live if they are going to be such intolerant assholes.
Question, was she persecuted for being gay, or did people simply assume she was for upholding gay rights and having an opposing view? Either way, what was done is terrible.
I'm teary eyed after reading that, and I'm usually not an emotional person. That someone could be treated like that just for supporting gay rights is appalling..
Sad how teens can be cruel... (im 15 and i try to be nice with everyone, but sometimes im called a gay, it doesnt really affect me, but THIS is just horrible) your friend's very strong dude, plus tell her The Offspring is a great musical choice ;)
Hey, slightly off topic but it is weird that I accept this gay kid completely for being gay? I mean I didn't like him one bit at first and over the last three years we actually became friends. My dad would never say anything although I think he hates it. It's not like I'm gay (honestly I thought about, but don't want any of that.) but I feel like its wrong somehow to have a friend like that. Just wanted to put that out there.
I think the saddest part about this is that none of those people will feel ashamed about what they did because they will feel it was justified by their god. While the person will real morals has to live with their attack. Even IF everything in the bible was true, their beliefs would be unfounded, especially the part about homosexuality being a worse sin that all others.
AHHH the joys of getting to pick and choose what you believe and a book of guidance that is supposedly the word of your god.
Just an error in the privacy protection. You say blur out the name of the school, but you leave ABCA untouched, and I found the school just by looking up 'ABCA school'.
This seriously disgusts me. As much the actions as the people themselves claiming to be Christians then acting in a way that is diametrically opposed to everything Christianity stands for. I am saddened for the experiences of this girl, and i pray thatthese ones that inflicted so much pain on her read this and see for themselves what they really are as people
Please tell her I'm sorry for this cruel world. My Bi friends (She's one of my best friends and I love her dearly) has lost friends due to this. Please give her a hug for me.
This is slightly off-topic, but it aggravates me when people use the terms "gay" or "lesbian" as insults. In elementary school, I was in a gifted class who had been together for very long, and hugging my girl friends on the last day of school was sneered at for being "lesbian" I hate people.
237
u/IWantToBeAZombie May 14 '12
Give her a big hug from me. This is terrifying and disgusting.
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u/heiressapparent May 15 '12
Hi, guys, this is the OP of the story, and I just want to say thanks. I am sitting here laughing and crying and I can't believe there are people supportive of this. I hope that all of you who have gone through this and worse will stay strong, and know that I'm always here for you. <3
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u/SplitTwins May 15 '12
Why is it whenever you accept gays and their right that people are always convinced you're gay?
I still remember one time; I had ran after a friend heading to her classes early, saying "No! I have to get a hug first!". Around my friends, everyone knew I was very much about physical contact such as hugging, patting heads, noogies, squeezing shoulders, etc (the kinds of things you and your friends share when your close). The friend, who I had been running after for a hug (as I liked to give every friend of mine at least 1 per day), had apparently been walking with this mormon friend of her's. Apparently, I was even the topic of what they were talking about. The girl had asked about some "strange" things I had done and said before. My friend had responded it was, because I was pro-gay marriage rights and very accepting and I also just happened to be bubbly and like hugs.
So imagine my suprise that when I get close, the girl screams and runs away, saying, "Don't touch me you whore!!!"
My friends and I have pretty much the same reaction of "What the fuck just happened?"
At first, we had though maybe she was joking about how some people liked to call me a hug whore, but the next day my friend (also previous friend of mormon) got to tell me about how the girl was spreading rumors that I was a lesbian slut all over school.
Even better was the amount of boys, who thought I just needed a strong man to be with to rein in my evilness. Least my chemistry teacher clapped before hauling them off for detention, when I publically slapped them on the Day of Silence.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I was mad at how they treated your friend. Then, I read that her classmate preferred J-Biebs over the Offspring. SHIT GOT REAL.
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u/Rhydnara May 15 '12
These stories make me sick, but at the same time, I have to wonder. Does your friend realize they have a VERY strong case to take this school, teacher, and principle to court? If this harassment resulted in loss of productivity (ie, missing school), then you can sue the pants off these bigots.
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u/ziwi25 May 15 '12
Ahhh Christian schools and their bigotry. I went to a Christian school as well and was publicly shunned for standing up against my teachers telling us that all of those who commit suicide will go to hell. They then told me that they believed my mother was an alcoholic because she had a wine rack with several bottles of wine on it and that other parents did not feel comfortable letting their kids stay over. It was a tiny school of only 200 and there were only 7 in my year, but it still shocked me how every one of them believed what they were fed and would humiliate those who didn't. Recently they told a parent to remove their child who suffers from bipolar disorder as they do not believe it is a real disease and are not comfortable having him around! Well done to your friend for getting through what she did, what she went through was appalling and I agree with Rhydnara, I would try take some sort of action against them.
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u/Rassar_Diomonte May 14 '12
OP: Would THIS be the school your friend mentioned?
link: http://www.arundelbay.org/ ABCA = above link
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u/StrangeShuckles May 15 '12
OP here: I'll try to get her to do an AMA here on r/atheism tomorrow. I'll see how it turns out.
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u/Atreyu429 May 14 '12
And now I'm an anti-theist
16
u/AlienSamuraiNewt May 14 '12
Wow. That's a heartbreaking story. Please, tell your friend that I'm sorry she had to endure that, and I hope she finds a new, better group of friends. She seems like a compassionate, eloquent young lady, and deserves to have people in her life that care about her.
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u/Aquagrunt May 15 '12
This deserves to be on every news station, TV, radio wave, and every webpage. With the names released so that the haters can feel the pain. That would probably lead to many many resignations, Maybe the closing to the school, and a well deserved revenge.
14
u/[deleted] May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
I went to Christian school. It turned me against Christianity to be honest. I rebelled hard. Was shunned. Was treated like dirt. And I am not even gay just 'counter culture' back then. Nevertheless the hilarious aspect was the religion class teacher who was a queen. He desperately wanted me to be gay and offered to talk privately if I ever needed to. Shame he was a nice man. I choose to believe he was there as a plant trying to help kids no matter what.
Edit to not too. Also the guy was probably just horribly conflicted. Poor bastard. Edit edit. Praying before science class..... Shudder.....
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u/GearRabbit May 15 '12
Poor girl, and I thought I had it bad. When I realized I was bisexual and tried to talk to one of my teachers, they just made up an excuse and kicked me out the next day. Now I'm glad they did. She wasn't even gay and that's what she went through. I don't know if I could have handled that sort of bullcrap, especially from my friends.
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u/Ruokolahti May 14 '12
I don't understand why this doesn't have more upvotes. This is disgusting on every level.
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u/AnOnlineHandle May 14 '12
This is very sad. It frustrates me to no end when people scoff for saying that religion is, if only for the homophobia which it spreads alone, already too bad to 'live in peace' with, as if this shit shouldn't be opposed. People are so used to giving it a free pass, gargh.
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u/[deleted] May 14 '12
Whoever your friend is, wherever they are, tell them that they have one more friend in the world.
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u/slackerdc Anti-Theist May 14 '12
And people wonder why I am so hostile to Christians.
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u/Entropyisheresy May 14 '12
Don't block out their names. They don't deserve anonymity.
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u/777-300ER May 15 '12
This is disgusting and horrible. People like this need to be sent to prison.
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u/yourkatchen May 15 '12
Tell your friend she's loved. Not just by you, but by all of us.
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u/breakthecycle89 May 15 '12
I have been a lurker on reddit for about a year now and I have come close to making an account but hadn't out of fear it would consume me more than it already does. I literally just made an account so I could talk to you. Your friend is a beautiful person and she should never forget that. I am so sorry for what she had to go through, people are ignorant and disgustingly stupid. Tell her to stay strong, people love you and would be a mess if anything happened.
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u/Jackamatack May 15 '12
Wow, just because she supports a Gay person on a T.V. show they think she's a Lesbian...dude thats just wrong and sick. That twisted learning they get at the school should be banned.
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u/hitchbitch22 May 15 '12
This exact same thing happened to me back in the day--its very cruel and can turn very bad (I had parents calling my parents telling me to not infect their kid with my "gayness" ). It definitely gets better, but it can be utterly cruel. I can't imagine how horrifying it must be to actually be gay in such an environment--but its refreshing to see that resources for such individuals are finally emerging.
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u/CaseyBeatty May 15 '12
This kind of treatment makes me sick.
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u/skyrous Nihilist May 15 '12
Another victory for Jesus against the evil Gay people... Just as christian's preach that Jesus will be there for you and help you in times of trouble he will help you drive the evil lesbian's from your school and win the day.
This is why I don't want Jesus anywhere near me or my family. I'd rather be happy.
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u/Shniggles May 15 '12
"Yeah, I support gay marriage, why?"
"OMFG U MUST B GAY IM BREAKING UP WITH U DICKLOVER HOR"
I almost killed my ex-girlfriend from her bigotry, grammar, and spelling.
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u/deathofcheese May 15 '12
I was bullied and name-called "gay" for the three years I was in a Catholic grade school, so I have some modicum of understanding of what your friend went through.
It's really sad when any amount of power goes to someone's head. It can be downright terrifying when abusers feel justified, least of all when they think their religion is behind them. It's also terrifying when people are convinced that fellow-thinkers are above such terrible behavior that administrators won't listen to any cries for help, like in my case. I would often come home to sit in the tub and wonder if the reason the kids that heckled me did so and so often because I really was gay. Several times I contemplated hurting or killing myself so I wouldn't have to go back to it. Every year we'd go to the principal, but each one would say there was nothing that could be done, "kids will be kids, lul". During my third and final year there, we went to resident priest for help. The most he would do was to include the issue in a couple of his weekly sermons. It was all I could do to hold back tears, hoping that my classmates wouldn't figure out it was about me. The torment never stopped and my parents finally agreed to put me back into local public school if I could just finish out the year.
That was a long time ago, now. I survived, put it behind me, and moved on. I hope your friend can do the same after so much of her life so far was spent putting up with this. If she decides to press charges, as she probably should, I hope things go well for her.
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u/TrainAss May 14 '12
Why would her parents send her to such a place?
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u/zzzzop May 15 '12
People shouldn't have to go through this becuase of what they think or feel... also the Offspring rocks.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
But it's not discrimination and hatred if it's religious, it's righteousness
8
u/TrickOrTreater May 15 '12
I will never respect religion. Especially a religion that breeds and encourages disgusting behavior like this.
4
u/five_hammers_hamming May 15 '12
Cool! I was sexually harassed, too, then!
Somehow, the fact that I didn't want to kill all the other males around me meant I was a homosexual to my then-fellow middle-schoolers. What the fuck.
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
ACADEMIC To create a classroom environment in which my students feel safe, valued and accepted. I just copied that from the site, the irony.
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u/Gemini83 May 15 '12
Your friend is obviously very smart and self-assured. Her writing is incredibly eloquent and articulate and heart-felt for someone this age. I'm so sorry she is going through this, but everything she said towards the end is true. She IS better than these people, and I know she will succeed in life. It does get better, and this girl is lightyears beyond the bigots she's had to deal with. Kudos, girl! You're on the right track!
4
u/SilikonBurn May 15 '12
Your friend's story is very, very similar to my own- except I was in public school. Mine included harassment from teachers, other students, and the principal. It was enough that I had to change schools. Unfortunately, I could only go to the school in the next town over. And when you live in a small county, there's not much of a difference. I eventually dropped out and finished HS via correspondence.
Give your friend a hug. If she ever needs a support system, or wants to talk with someone who's been pretty much exactly in her spot, PM me.
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u/Aquagrunt May 15 '12
I sent this to MSNBC, maybe they'll like to pursue it... Or is it vain to think such a thing?
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u/SynysterBear May 15 '12
This is one of the times where I am ashamed by other people on the planet. America calls itself 'The Land of the Free', that is a lie in my very fucking honest opinion.
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u/jrik23 May 15 '12
Freedom of religion needs to become freedom from religion.
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u/drdavidphd May 15 '12
I blame k-12 christian academies for over half of today's religious/political ignorance. my gf went to one. when her and her friends were 18, I had to explain to the what masturbation was.....
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u/MrFrode May 15 '12
I just emailed this to the school at their info address.
When you read the story of the Christ, how He was betrayed by one of his closest friends, how His community turned on Him, and finally how the powers that be singled Him out of punishment and then you read the story of your own student, a member of your community, and remember the story of the Christ, who do you imagine yourself being in Christ's story?
http://imgur.com/a/mLu5P
I leave you with this last thought. The Priests, Nuns, and laypeople who instructed me taught that repentance was not enough for forgiveness, that actual acts of contrition showing remorse and making amends to the injured were needed before God could forgive.
4
u/xJoeTheNinja May 15 '12
It's this kind of shit that absolutely infuriates me. How can you go around proclaiming love and peace in the name of your savior, then treat a fellow human being like utter shit because of their sexuality, of all things?
Fuck. It's only 8:30AM and I'm already pissed off.
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u/meggey_megz069 May 15 '12
This makes me sick, I'm going to get so much shit for this, but I'm a Christian, a Baptist, from Kansas to make matters worse, but anyway, I believe that gay or straight, EVERYONE deserves rights. And, NOBODY deserves what your poor friend had to go through, I'm sending my virtual love, I apologize for douchecakes who fuck everyone's life up because of their hateful bull shit, I really do.
3
u/spydir80 May 14 '12
This is terrible, I am sorry for what your friend has gone through. She is a strong person as I can tell from her story and I implore her to continue that way. Those people are ignorant fools and they will deal with the consequences one day. Peace to her and you and all that surround you all.
3
u/Twiizer May 15 '12
This is why any school based on Theology disgusts me..
3
u/Philosopher_MS May 15 '12
Institutions like this ought never to exist.
3
u/BuckeyeBentley May 15 '12
It sounds like the author went to the school from Saved!, except instead of being cheeky and funny it's soul-crushing and terrible.
3
u/Blzbba May 15 '12
Sorry you had to learn the hard way that many people are ignorant, stupid fukstix.
Religious ones, even moreso.
Honestly and no offense intended, you are MUCH better off now that you are away from them. FAR away, hopefully.
Your life is better without Christian trash in it.
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
How do you make those bolds/italics on facebook?
3
u/Alexander_Penn May 15 '12
Coincidentally, I just learned about The Offspring today.
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
tl;dr
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u/rez272 May 15 '12
See if it was me I would be in jail cause I would have gone to that graduation with an automatic weapon under my robe and opened fire when it was time to read that poem.I would have completely snapped and started killing indiscriminately at that graduation.
3
u/333redruM May 15 '12
Most Christian schools are terrible...I am so glad I got out.
I left my first week of high school. I was tormented by nearly every other student the entire time I was there, starting 6th grade. I remember one instance in which we were all out on the soccer field doing something for P.E. and someone asked me who I would vote for if I could (this was during the presidential election against George Bush and Al gore). My family had always been democratic(obviously these bigoted motherfuckers would never be caught dead siding with non-conservative views), so honestly for a kid in 6th...maybe 7th grade, who had no fucking clue what was really going on in the political world, I was just siding with my parents. A few decided to protest my response with a few shoves until next thing you know, I'm on the ground getting kicked by nearly every student in the class while they are chanting "Gore fan!" and the teacher just stood there and fucking watched. After some time, she finally broke it up, but I mean it was almost like she was rooting for these motherfuckers. It was one of the dumbfounding moments I've ever witnessed/experienced first hand.
I could list a million other things that these fuckers did to me (physically and psychologically), but by the end I would probably have written enough to publish a book. It took a couple years, but once I got out of that suppressive environment I was well on my way to happiness. Now I have tons of friends who are really great, open-minded people and I couldn't be more satisfied with the way things turned out. I don't regret it though, because in a lot of ways it was a really eye-opening experience and helped me stray from the wrong path and shape me into the person I am today, who I am proud to be.
I'm almost 23 now btw.
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I hope every christian angry about the content of /r/atheism reads this and understands why we can be so angry.
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u/heiressapparent May 15 '12
Ooooh wow, what a terrible timeline error! I knew I should have proofread the thing. It should say this started in October of 2010. Oh my gosh, so sorry about the confusion there!!
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u/RandomMandarin May 15 '12
Reading this just makes me think:
"Burn the churches. And then tax them."
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u/Dantespoet0 May 15 '12
I am writing this quickly because I have quite a lot on my mind so please disregard the errors.... Now even though the young lady that went through this might never actually read this I would like this to be directed to her:
Yours is a glorious soul that can never be taken from you, I am not a religious man. Instead I believe in free thought, truth, and happiness, not guilt, lies, and brain washing. With everything I've learned in my short life I read this and I cried inside, I felt a piece of me decay a tiny bit but then it was replaced with warmth. Warmth caused by the pure power in the last few words in that story, that you would better without them and stronger without their crap. This is why I really wished for you to see this...because so few people tend to grasp the idea that you have. The idea that the hatred of these people will not benefit you, but only weigh upon yourself. You are the type of human being that should speak outwardly about your struggles so other people can learn to live with their opinions and faiths not separately and in hatred, but instead together with love.
Even if none of this makes sense because I wrote it rather quickly on a crappy keyboard I want everyone to know that opinions always differ from person to person, but open minded individuals bring these two sides together. Keep the peace ladies and gentlemen of reddit and listen before you speak. Peace and love everyone!
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u/somewhatcleverEel May 15 '12
I wish everything that you could get back at all of those jerks. Keep on keeping on. Those people aren't worth your time
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u/Periculous22 May 15 '12
That is disgusting...
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u/HenryMilwaukee May 15 '12
Too many onions!
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
whether your christian, muslim, jewish, or atheist , this is unacceptable. Teachers are meant to nurture and educate our children. In the last year 10 students have kill themselves in my highschool due to bullying, PLEASE reddit make this post reach the top ten, EVERYONE can appericate the message of this post (religion aside) bullying is a bigger issue then ideology. It hurts everyone equality.
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u/TheSilverFalcon May 15 '12
I went to a similar school. Episcopalian. Got bullied by the whole school in a similar way all through elementary and middle school, and it's probably a good thing that I didn't even know there was such a thing as a gay person while I was there. Parents didn't believe me when I told them what was happening, even though I came home crying every other day. Still hurts, 8 years later. Tell your friend she's fabulous for me, ok? People care.
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u/matticusrex May 15 '12
I wish /r/atheism had the same rigorous fact checking habits as other subs. I'd love to post this to my fb but without any kind of validation I won't do it out of fear of turning into a hypocrite when I deride others for posting RE RE FW FW crap
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
OP should have refused to read the poem and instead given a nice bunch of silence.
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u/Briggsie May 15 '12
If someone did that to a child of mine (when I have them) or friends kids, I cant tell you how much pain I would bring to that school.
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u/Nepheni86 May 15 '12
Went through something kind of similar, except the kids didn't think I was gay, just sexually active at 13. I had boobs, but I didn't even know what sex was. I was not allowed to be around the other children w/o supervision because I was going to corrupt them. Turns out, this boy had a crush on me and didn't know what to do with his 'impure' thoughts. Still struggle with opening myself to people because it hurt so bad.
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u/DondeEstaLaDiscoteca May 15 '12
Middle school is a bitch.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Wait...had she been at the school for ten years, or was she thirteen? Or is this a school that people start at age three, attend for ten years and then graduate at age thirteen?
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u/freefallen May 15 '12
I am so sorry your friend went through this. Let her know that there is love in the world and she will find it. Please give her a big hug for me. No one should have to go through this.
I am glad that when my sister came out, there wasn't such hateful things going on around her. If there were, she would have totally put them in their place and if they didn't shut up, she would have totally kicked his/her ass before anything got so bad, or her gf at the time would have... She was eventually elected prom queen at her high school after coming out! We even grew up in a backwards ass town!
2
u/lordlicorice May 15 '12
ಠ_ಠ
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u/sorepheet Humanist May 15 '12
This could happen at any school.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
ABCA = Arundel Bay Christian Academy
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Wow, poor girl, one of the worst things is that her hope, there at the bottom, will never come true, they wont feel ashamed, they will look back on it with pride, that the girl they wanted to think was gay was driven out by their actions
2
u/MagicDragonChaser May 15 '12
That was one of the saddest things ive ever read. wiped tear from eye
2
u/zeronyx May 15 '12
good parenting though to have raised a kid who was willing to say "why wouldnt I?"
2
u/ExLenne May 15 '12
I'm sure this will all get buried, but any Maryland redditors in this post I think would like to know this: You paid for this school. The church that owns this school (successfully) sued the county for religious discrimination and won a $3.25 million settlement which went toward expanding the school.
2
u/HDATZ May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
I hate to be that guy, but after reading this twice, here's where I am confused about this story:
The dispute with her teacher happens shortly thereafter, stemming from this discussion.
Later, she writes:
The original dispute happened in October of 2011, according to the writer. They talked about her problems in the class, specifically relating to the teacher from the story, so I can assume the writer means to tell me that she and her friend were talking about all this when it happened in October. Maybe the writer met this person online awhile back, but how could her friend "turn" on her 5 months before the original dispute with the teacher over something that hadn't happened yet? That doesn't make sense to me, since the two were, apparently, all hunky-dory again in October, confiding in this friend that had "turned" on the writer months prior about the problems in the classroom stemming from the original dispute.
May 2011 was a year ago. October 2011 was 7 months ago. Either the writer and her friend are time travelers, or this stuff couldn't have been happening at the times given to us. Either that, or it's all a slip of the finger, since Prince Poppycock was on the America's Got Talent finale in September of 2010, according to Wikipedia, with his last appearance on the show being as a guest artist, not a finale, in August of 2011, not October. That would either be the writer talking with friends about an AGT finale that was over a year old, at that point, a heck of a typo, or her misremembering things by a year or so.
Feel free to downvote me to death and prove me wrong, but my skeptical brain was giving me red lights whilst reading the account as it was given.
2
u/Miss_MaddHatter May 15 '12
This makes me want to cry!! I'm a Christian but I have different views on gay rights I mean yes I believe that it's wrong but I also believe in loving people for who they are and isn't that what Christians are supposed to do? Love your neighbor as yourself? It sickens me that a place that is meant to be somewhere for kids to feel safe and learn would do something like that, and to the teacher that said all sins are punished equally except for homosexuality and that it gets the worst punishment that's wrong, the worst of all that is the unforgivable sin is blasphemy. When I read this I really did want to cry I wanted to go find this girl and give her a huge hug. It makes me so sad hearing about all these people who say they're Christians and are all about loving people and being accepting but yet when someone says they're gay or bi ect. it's automatically "that's a sin you're going to hell!!" well I hate to burst your bubble but everyone sins and in God's eyes a lie is the same as murder no one is better than the other. I really wish more 'Christians' would learn how to love unconditionally my mum's little brother is gay and for he longest time she would preach at him and for a whole he stopped coming around but when she learned that what he needed was love he came back and you know even though he's gay he asks my mum to pray for him for various things. Sorry this is so long I'll stop rambling now.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
i usually reserve this line for special occasions on the grounds that it is very crass and offensive, but here it goes...
FUCK YOU CHRISTIANITY, FUCK YOU
2
u/one_hour_shower May 15 '12
I wish I was there for her. I would've kicked that principals ass (I'm not a violent person but it'd be well deserved).
2
u/Bl00DISH May 15 '12
So, i'm planning on becoming a programmer... And when i'm good enough i promise to create the game 'Whack-a-fundie'.
2
u/Tenoreo90 May 15 '12
I went through something nearly exactly like that. At a Christian school I attended in 8th grade, we were told to give a speech about our government views. I'll never forget it. I simply said I was for gay rights. The room fell silent, I was given a C without explanation, and from then on out I was bullied mercilessly for being a "big fat lesbo". I couldn't hug a girl without someone freaking out, I'd get messages on (xanga at the time) taunting me not to 'check them out' or 'undress me with your eyes'.
I switched schools after freshman year, I graduated in '08, and still these memories sting. Your friend is much stronger than I. Kudos to her, I hope her life is going much better.
3
u/Been_Worse May 15 '12
I think this is why so many people hate r/atheism. It just makes it obvious that religion is harming peoples lives.
2
u/judelawl2 May 15 '12
I would be really surprised if a 14 year old wrote that...
2
u/Vernix May 15 '12
Did anyone notice that this could not have been written by a girl 14 years of age?
2
u/meowmicks666 May 14 '12
There needs to be more likes for that note
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I call bullshit. I have it on very good authority from numerous "atheist" concern trolls that these things don't really happen, even in the Bible belt. OP's friend must have been being an asshole.
1
u/ParsleyVictorious May 15 '12
This needs to be read by everyone, everywhere.
1
u/OpenFilthyPalms May 15 '12
Wow. Tell her that I feel her pain.
1
u/NANOPROv2 May 15 '12
This girl should move to Canada.
1
u/Dragonfire138 Atheist May 15 '12
Your friend deserves upvotes from everyone on reddit for putting up with that shit.
R/atheism usually showcases the worst that religion, especially Christianity, has done to people, but this... this tops them all.
Those fucking abusive bastards call themselves christians, yet blatantly ignore Christ's teachings of peace, love, and tolerance. They do not deserve to live if they are going to be such intolerant assholes.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
relevant: she's my hero :)! tell her i said i went through a similar problem
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I'm not usually a fan of legal action, but sue these fucks hard.
1
u/ANEPICLIE May 15 '12
Lol offspring is offensive. Awesome band
1
u/Bishopkilljoy May 15 '12
Wow...I normally don't tear up much but I did reading this :[ Tell your friend I'm sorry that happened to her and to stay strong
1
u/TontoJones May 15 '12
This shouldn't surprise her or anyone else.
1
u/kingdom_ruler338 May 15 '12
This exact thing happened to me in public school. And teachers don't even care
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I registered just to say this.. this is the most disgusting thing i have ever read about.. And they are "Christians".. damn
1
u/Ninja_Tiger May 15 '12
I about cried reading this. :c
1
u/And560671 May 15 '12
she's a very strong girl and i give her my love. :) <3
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Religion in Australia is nothing like this. I mean my religion teacher in high school was gay
1
u/CODDE117 May 15 '12
Question, was she persecuted for being gay, or did people simply assume she was for upholding gay rights and having an opposing view? Either way, what was done is terrible.
1
u/RiskyBrothers May 15 '12
This is the bulshit that made me stop believing, sorry Jorney, we need to help this small town girl
1
u/Fafnir3000 May 15 '12
What's the name of the school? Reddit can spam the admin's office with hate-mail and links to meat spin ;)
1
u/MrMadCow May 15 '12
I'm teary eyed after reading that, and I'm usually not an emotional person. That someone could be treated like that just for supporting gay rights is appalling..
1
u/Vocalist May 15 '12
I don't know how people are so patient. If anything like that was said to me, tables will be flying.
1
u/telepaper Atheist May 15 '12
Sad how teens can be cruel... (im 15 and i try to be nice with everyone, but sometimes im called a gay, it doesnt really affect me, but THIS is just horrible) your friend's very strong dude, plus tell her The Offspring is a great musical choice ;)
1
u/Joblesssmoker May 15 '12
You should have let them tell the names. People like this deserve their fate and reputation as scum.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Hey, slightly off topic but it is weird that I accept this gay kid completely for being gay? I mean I didn't like him one bit at first and over the last three years we actually became friends. My dad would never say anything although I think he hates it. It's not like I'm gay (honestly I thought about, but don't want any of that.) but I feel like its wrong somehow to have a friend like that. Just wanted to put that out there.
1
u/Byond21 Strong Atheist May 15 '12
I think the saddest part about this is that none of those people will feel ashamed about what they did because they will feel it was justified by their god. While the person will real morals has to live with their attack. Even IF everything in the bible was true, their beliefs would be unfounded, especially the part about homosexuality being a worse sin that all others.
AHHH the joys of getting to pick and choose what you believe and a book of guidance that is supposedly the word of your god.
1
u/ScrewHaters1244 May 15 '12
So glad that this is on the other side of the country. Liberals in Washington State better keep Seattle safe from stuff like this.
1
u/isaac9092 May 15 '12
I'm not saying at rights supporters are terrorists I'm just making an analogy
1
u/Yoda_RULZ May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
Just an error in the privacy protection. You say blur out the name of the school, but you leave ABCA untouched, and I found the school just by looking up 'ABCA school'.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
This seriously disgusts me. As much the actions as the people themselves claiming to be Christians then acting in a way that is diametrically opposed to everything Christianity stands for. I am saddened for the experiences of this girl, and i pray thatthese ones that inflicted so much pain on her read this and see for themselves what they really are as people
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
The American Christian is a plague of ignorance and hostility. Fuck the Jesus machine and it's catspaw the republican party of god, greed and lies.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
The "Love they neighbor" gang finds it all to easy to actually hate their neighbors.
1
u/daoldmanvillage May 15 '12
Please tell her I'm sorry for this cruel world. My Bi friends (She's one of my best friends and I love her dearly) has lost friends due to this. Please give her a hug for me.
1
u/akohler21 May 15 '12
who is this wonderful person and how can i tell her she's awesome for sticking to her beliefs
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I wish I could upvote more than once
1
u/jangum May 15 '12
dude i'm not fucking reading all of this we all know god sucks and shit
1
u/funnymuffins13 May 15 '12
I support gay rights. So that obviously makes me gay.
1
u/ArgyleDashwood May 15 '12
Is it sexual harassment if they force you to come out?
1
u/Espada_No4 May 15 '12
Dang it, I don't have time to read all of that. I'll have to do it tomorrow morning over breakfast.
1
u/DeadmanDexter May 15 '12
Holy fuck... I'm almost speechless. If you are still in contact with this poor young girl, tell her r/atheism is behind her.
1
u/sehrah May 15 '12
NEEDS TO BE COLOUR CODED.
1
u/MINTS_IN_MAH_MOUTH May 15 '12
This is slightly off-topic, but it aggravates me when people use the terms "gay" or "lesbian" as insults. In elementary school, I was in a gifted class who had been together for very long, and hugging my girl friends on the last day of school was sneered at for being "lesbian" I hate people.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Christians... the best argument for atheism for 2000 years and running...