Religious Intolerance: Don't tolerate it!

"I never told my own religion or scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged."
--From Thomas Jefferson's letter to Mrs. H. Harrison Smith in 1816

I sat in Geography class, almost stunned. I had just seen a new side, a dark side, of people I always thought were “cool,” people I considered my friends.

“A sacred religious sight to Islamic people is the Dome of the Rock,” said Mrs. V., holding up a picture. “This is where they worship and pray.”

“They pray to a rock?!” said one guy in the second row. “How stupid!”
“They don’t know any better,” replied a girl behind him.
“Do they wear those goofy little hats like the Jews?”
“No! They’re terrorists! They wear towels on their heads!”

The way these ninth graders were talking, I practically heard the hatred drip from their tongues. Mrs. V. did her best to control the uproarious shouts of rude ignorance, but they pounced on the topic like lions on a defenseless warthog, and they were not about to let go.

“Stupid terrorists! Just like Mr. M! I bet he wears a little hat too!”
“Skippy, don’t you dare say another……”
“Yeah! Why doesn’t he just go back to Muslim country?”

I wanted to scream. Did they not think such insults could offend someone? No, they didn’t. They never thought somebody in class might be Muslim. They never took into account that not everybody in the world was L.D.S. They acted on ignorance and they insulted a religion sacred to millions. It’s not necessary to believe in someone else’s faith, but a basic American principle is freedom of religion. Students here need to learn to respect other people’s beliefs.

Failure to respect the religious beliefs of others results in hatred and animosity. The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478 and lasted until 1834. It was a period of time when the Catholic Church was determined to force Jews and Protestants to convert to Catholicism and “purify” the people of Spain. During this period, which is often called a “reign of terror,” thousands of people were publicly executed, tortured, or sentenced to life in prison. Why? Because the Catholic Church simply could not accept those who practiced a religion other than Catholicism. I am a Catholic in a mostly L.D.S. world, and I have been faced with religious intolerance as well. Even though the religious intolerance that has affected me has not led to death, questioning and criticisms have become torturous.

“Do you really believe that?”
“Why?”
“You just don’t get it, do you? That’s not right at all.”
“We’ll convert you one day. You will choose the right.”

The way they talked about converting me was almost scary. Almost like a threat. No one really believed that it hurt when they tried to convert me. No one could understand how I could be happy in my “weird” religion. At first I felt flattered that my friends loved me enough to try and save me from the burning fires of hell, but after a while, it felt like they cared more about what religion I was than what kind of friend I was, and this lead to animosity on both sides. As some of my friends started to understand that we would never fully agree on our religious beliefs, I started to realize that I would never be accepted as an equal by some of them. If people of our country determine relationships only on religion, then they can hardly call themselves true Americans. If someone disagrees, they should check the Constitution.

First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

When you judge people based on religion, you are going against everything our country was founded on. People shouldn’t have to “Choose the Right” to be accepted as a person. That is why the first amendment was created. Our founding fathers (many of whom left a country to escape religious intolerance) realized that whatever “right” people believed in there would always be people who would disagree. And they realized that this was ok. If you are happy in your religion, no one has the right to try and keep you from that happiness. It says so in the constitution and trying to take away someone’s happiness with their religion is just plain wrong.

Most students here fail to realize that not everybody practices the same religion. A lot of these students also fail to realize that it is wrong and hurtful to disrespect or laugh at religions other than their own. Even though non-L.D.S. people are the minority in Utah, we are still people with feelings. Some people could and probably would argue that junior high students are immature and don’t know any better. Well, they should know better. Young adults of any religion should be taught to be respectful of other people. A junior high student is old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, and they are old enough to know what comments and criticisms will hurt people. Insulting people’s religion is like denying their existence. Being a Catholic living in a mostly L.D.S. world, I have grown up with most of my friends being Mormon. After years of many of them thinking that my cross necklace was a lower case t, I know how it feels to be misunderstood by people I care about. Besides the constant questions about my beliefs, my different religion never seemed to cause anyone a problem, and I had no problem telling people what I believed. But at the beginning of this year, everything changed because some of my lifelong friends found it necessary to tell me that my religion was wrong. And unfortunately some of my greatest friendships got torn apart.

“Why don’t you just convert, Rosie?”
“I like being Catholic.”
“But you know it’s wrong don’t you?” You need to choose the right!”

I can tell you from experience that whenever somebody tries to convert me to their “right” religion, I actually lose more and more respect for that religion. It’s really quite simple: people can disrespect your religion as easily as you can disrespect theirs. When you try to force your religion on others, they tend to think less of it. As I said before, I’ve had many people try and convert me this year, and I can honestly tell you that with every hint, suggestion, or lecture on why I should convert, I become more determined to NEVER do so. Personally, I feel that everybody needs some sort of faith in their life, but they need a faith that is their own. Not a faith that is accepted or approved by other people. They need something that makes them happy, no matter what other people say about it.

No matter what religion, you and your faith deserve respect. But we all equally owe everybody else and their religion that same respect. As much as it may feel that your religion is best, that doesn’t mean it is best for everyone, and that is OK. When you mock or discriminate against someone’s religion, it does hurt, and no matter what your faith preaches, disrespecting and hurting people is always wrong. Once we can respect other people’s beliefs, we will all earn back that same respect for our own.