Hi, I am a black, atheist teen...

I saw this story on a contentious Facebook page, and thought it worth sharing as being different, and abused for that, in high school is all too common. There are currently 225 comments on it, and some very good advice for those who struggle with being different and how to handle others bullying them - check them out if you've been treated badly for being different and wondered what to do about it.

https://www.facebook.com/darndestthings ... 4575251399
This isn't a normal post for this page, but we have decided it's something that needs to be posted. If anyone has experienced the same situation or has any advice, please leave a comment.
A girl sent in the following message today and gave us permission to repost it in the hope someone can help:

Hi, I am a a black, atheist teen, three things that should never go together. I went to a catholic high school this year. It spread like wildfire across the school that i was an atheist. I became the school freak. I am sick of people shouting out things like "prove evolution", or 'if you don't believe in god you must believe in Satan.'' My question to you is should I cave in when school starts next year and tell everyone some bogus story about how i was "saved". It would probably make the next three years of my life easier but i feel queasy just thinking about the superior looks that would be on the Christian's faces if i pretended to be a believer. What would you do in my situation?

Thank you.

That was what a few people suggested. But if it's where her parents want her to go (part of what I edited out indicated that her parents don't support her choice, maybe they enrolled her in Catholic school to "reform" her?), or they don't have the option of moving her to another school, should she have to continue to put up with this abuse?

The other kids are in the wrong, shouldn't they have to change rather than this girl?

Would I try to force my child into a decision about their spiritual beliefs? No, I wouldn't, but I'm pretty accepting of a lot - I would accept and support my child's choice to be gay, atheist, Republican, priest, join the military, become a male cheerleader, female football player, etc. If they came to me and told me they were being harassed at school for any of the above, I would address the issue with the school and support my child 100%; I would take them out of the school only as a last resort because children become strong and mature by enduring adversity with grace, perseverance, humor, integrity, and dignity.

I find your statement "her parents are stupid" as being very judgmental - you don't know them or their reasons for placing her in this school. You don't know what they are or aren't doing to fix this situation, all we know is what this girl is feeling and experiencing.

You really think it's right for the other kids to be scream "if you don't believe in god you must believe in Satan" at her just because she's chosen to be an atheist? It's an ignorant statement, as the definition of atheist precludes a belief in Satan as well, so yes, they are absolutely wrong. And who knows what else they are taunting her with, but you can bet it's personal and it's nasty, as that's what high school kids do. And verbal abuse is abuse, plain and simple.

Men are no more judgmental than women so you can't use that as an excuse - you know girls have "cliques" in high school, spread nasty vicious rumors about girls hair-dos, and who they are sleeping with, haze them about how they look (being fat, having too small a chest, walking funny, where they eat, their clothes being not the latest fashion or acceptable brand, ad nauseum).

Again, maybe they didn't know her beliefs when they enrolled her or maybe her parents put her in that situation to "encourage" her to change her beliefs - that does not make them stupid or poor parents, just narrow-minded and rigid. You can't force people to change their beliefs, either through shaming or harassment - you can only explain your beliefs and why you have them and let them decide for themselves if they think that makes more sense.

Still, them placing her in a Catholic school has nothing to do with her classmates choices to be harassing and abusive. They have no right to do that, and they need to learn to be accepting of others' differences, whether they are atheist, or gay Christians, or speak with a stutter. If they are acting like this to her, imagine what they do to others; they have the problem and need to learn to grow up and be more tolerant. This is a great opportunity for them to do so.