One day, as comic relief to our studies, Mr. Johnson told us about the tiny additions that students wrote on their AP US History test. The creativity of the ones who had apparently given up on this test was humorous, to say the least. My personal favorite was the drawing of the middle finger. There was absolutely no writing, just one big, solid hand among the lines of the paper, smiling up at the reader. The next one I remember was a message at the end of a long, well-written paper. It was only three words, but they had a powerful response. “Jesus loves you.” At the end of some kid’s test, they apparently felt it was a swell idea to tell their AP tester of the love that Jesus clearly has for them. I, however, did not.

“How completely insensitive,” raced through my head. “How in the world would this kid know what religion their reader followed?” Even after an articulate and analytical essay, I found myself thinking how education had failed this student. This was a perfect example of sheer cultural ignorance. The audacity this student had to assume that the grader fell into their majority demonstrated how fully unaware my fellow peers were. In a class that the curriculum was based off educating students of our diverse history, this one kid missed the entire point.

I looked around the room in frustration. I wanted to connect eyes with friends around me so we could groan in pain about this student’s foolishness. It wasn’t until this moment that I realized I was in the minority. No one seemed to have a problem with this statement as they all nodded their head in agreement. “That was so sweet,” exclaimed one kid. “I’m sure that helped persuade the reader,” remarked another. I could not believe my ears. In the midst of public school teachings, these students felt it was okay to intermix their religious views in a way that was hardly unbiased.

My hand shot straight into the air. “How does the author know who his target audience is? Isn’t there a great chance that the reader doesn’t identify with Christian ideals and thereby could be offended by this student’s assumption that we’re all lumped into the majority? Isn’t it unwise to say something so subjective without truly knowing how the reader will react?” These questions were spewing out of my mouth with anger. I didn’t understand why I was the only student in the entire class who felt that way. Before my teacher got a chance to respond, my friend looked me dead in the eye and said, “Well he does. Jesus loves everyone no matter what religion he or she identifies with. He’s unbiased and true.” Her response silenced me. I had no idea how to respond to this and sat at my desk speechless. My teacher, satisfied with this girl’s response, moved on to another example.

I sat there in utter disbelief. If I had written on my paper a statement that denied the existence of a god, or something even more extreme such as, “the Devil loves you,” most of my class would have been in uproar. How dare I write something so insensitive and cruel? For me though, those statements are just as valid as any other ones. Religion is just a shared opinion among a group of people. There is no substantial evidence that proves one group’s belief more tried and true over another. Just because one group holds the majority opinion, does not mean its opinion has more clout than any others. Society ostracizes those whose beliefs are outside of the norm in all facets of life. A democracy should not be a society where the majority opinion gets to dictate what the rest of us think, especially in a nation that is supposedly built on a “separation of church and state.”

That day I came to believe that in terms of religious enlightenment, my class was lacking. However, after removing myself from the situation, I have been able to gain some greater perspective. As silly as it seems, religion suddenly became comparable to food. Take sushi, for instance. My general life experience has taught me that sushi is a popular food among many. People absolutely love it. All the same, with this love also comes disdain. I, myself, am not a lover of this Japanese creation. This contrast of opinions flabbergasts a lot of my friends. They could not understand why I did not love this Asian specialty, while I could not understand why they were so bothered by my difference in taste. I was allowed to not like a food and yet every time the words, “I don’t like sushi,” escape my mouth, I feel like I’m offending everyone within a five foot radius. Of course not everyone is like this. However, for the ones who are, having a difference of opinion often feels like I’m waging a war where my skepticism was no match for their god.

Walk a mile in their shoes. Examine not what they’re thinking, but their reason for thinking it. Why would someone be angry with another for a discrepancy in his or her respective appetites? I realized that it was not the person’s difference that frustrated the sushi lover, but rather confusion and sadness. When this person consumes sushi he experiences immense joy. Because I do not feel this same joy, the sushi lover is crushed. When something makes you happy, you want to share this happiness among those close to you in order to enrich their lives as well. This, I now understand, is what was occurring with religion. People feel so strongly about their beliefs, and the good that has followed from the path of Jesus Christ that they want to share it with other people. While I was sitting here feeling annoyed at other people trying to force their beliefs on me, they felt as though they were genuinely doing me a favor. They wanted for me, what Jesus gives to them: a better, more fulfilling life.

The problem is, my taste buds don’t like sushi and that won’t change no matter how many times someone props open my mouth and tries to shove a California roll down my throat. People need to learn to respect this. I belong to a predominantly Christian nation. By denouncing Jesus as my God I should not be offending people. This double standard that society holds is unfair. I maintain that as long as my beliefs and feelings do not harm those around me, I should be free to not only think them, but also say them aloud. I don’t believe in your god or maybe any god. I should not feel rude or insensitive when saying that. My religious beliefs and your religious beliefs are valid. You like sushi, I don’t and that’s okay.