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[Mr.Peskapoe]

Originally posted by Mentor@Feb 25 2005, 10:01 PM
Sure, as humans they deserve some respect, I won't go out of my way to kill, maim, or otherwise injure a Christian, nor will I really, generally, go out of my way to insult them. But when they come to ME about it, I have a problem.

Let me put it like this: I grew up in LA. Really nice, really open-minded family. No racism, no hatred, no bigotry, none of it. I like to think that I am open minded. Hell, I grew up in a fairly Catholic family, so my moral values probably are slightly Christian(Now, before that argument starts, Catholics and Christians are, in my mind, close enough to be the same. Same general religion, same god). Then, when I turned 10, my dad and I moved to Memphis, Tennessee. The middle of the damn Bible Belt. At the time, it was a new experience, though I loathed to leave my home. First day of elementary school, at the end of the day (Wednsday), one of the kids I had made friends with asked me which church I went to.

"I don't go to church. Never have, actually."

You'd think I shot Mother Teresa (Whom is one of those people whom I respect above many others, simply because she was a tough old hag). I heard pencils drop, for fek's sake.

"You... don't go to church?"

"Nope."

"Then what religion are you?"

"I don't have one, really. I mean, I never really thought about it."

"He worships Satan!"

"Devil worshiper!"

I'm not making this up. So, for my entire stay at Elementary school, I was flagged as a tool of TEH DEVEL! and pretty well tormented with mountains of religious crap, which I'd much rather avoid altogether. Let the religious folk have their beliefs, doesn't mean I have to accept it, like it, or even care about it.

Middle School (Junior High), same damn thing. Some kids followed me from Elem. and spread the word. This was the time when fights were a big deal, that if you couldn't fight you weren't worth anything. I didn't give a rats behind about my "image", I just wanted a damn education, so I got my behind kicked. A LOT. By self-righteous Christians who thought they were doing a service by "Beating the fear of GAWD" into me, as several kids put it. This was also when the teachers started doing it, trying to convert me DURING CLASS on a weekly basis. I tried to sue for violations of the first amendment, but in Memphis children have no rights except the right to sit down, shut up, and do what the adults say.

High School. I was your classic rebel without a clue. And Christianity still ran rampant in that school system. This time, however, I won ninety percent of the fights, and by sophmore year I had a reputation as the creepy Satanist guy in the trenchcoat (It was a London Fog, a really nice one, too) who's really quiet and who can kick you behind in a heartbeat. Thus, people left me alone. I calmed down, I became a little more laid back, and my viewpoints of the world changed.

Now, here I am. Does the story make sense? Depends on how you see things. To me, what it says is that I have a reason to dislike Christians, because of my experiences with them. Yes, it's irrational, yes it's probably dumb, but it's the way I see the world. And as for hating random-person A (Black, White, Jew) you're entitled to like and dislike whomever you want. Not my place to judge your opinions.

And if you don't like me because of one simple opinion, then I guess I should just log off and never come back.

If I win that stupid contest, my e-mail's in my profile.

I'm blessed to have been born in secular Sweden but I still know what you talk about, religion still play a large role in the country side of the north and while I've lived in a city all my life that sort of intollerance can still be found in the more ural areas. On the flip side, the few religous families who settle in a city are usually treated with respect.