I'm Sorry, Did my Religion get all up in Your Grill?

          You can be as religious as you want to be, just sit down and shut up. That’s the message spoken by well-meaning buddies, peers, bosses, etc. But there is a problem with just shutting up.

          Remaining silent is often a sign of consent, and if one’s religious beliefs do not jive with what is being presented, one should be allowed to propose an alternate perspective.
There is a wall of hostility one encounters when expressing an opinion that is based on anything smelling of religion, however. Some people look as if you were dangling a dead fish in their face when you tell them you have chosen to do something or not to do something because you want to please God.
   
          And yet, others express secular opinions in direct contrast to religious views all the time. Am I, as a Christian, offended? Yes, sometimes, but I can respect their position while holding my own. This is called tolerance.

          In public schools, expressing one’s religious beliefs are frowned upon. I can think of specific instances where a fellow student in elementary school was “told on” by another fellow student for having a Bible in his desk. The book was removed from the student’s possession for the remainder of the day. I never saw whether the student got his Bible back.

          In another instance, a student wrote on a paper in science class how he thought the world was created: “It was created by God as it says so in the Holy Bible.” He was given detention.

          Separation of Church and State never meant that students could not express their religious beliefs in a classroom setting. It meant that the church was not running the government. An article on private and public religion details the debate well, but leaves the question of what we will do about it wide open.

          I think it would be far more productive in understanding one another if people talked about not only religion, but their thoughts on their purpose, the afterlife, the creation of the world. A disagreement is better by far than this dull, distant human interaction that is achieved by being superficial and keeping one’s beliefs to oneself. We should spice up our conversations in and outside the classroom by mutually stating and listening to one another’s beliefs with respect.