Shame Shame

It is very difficult to explain my background to someone without being judged. I am aware that stereotypes exist for all people, and that all people are judged and discriminated against due to these (problematic) social idealogies. In my case, however, some of the stickiest and most hated stereotypes cling like wet underwear, and I am growing exhausted with the ideas of either 1) battling these prejudgments for the rest of my life, or 2) removing myself from the problematic categories altogether. Being an English major, my best form of release is to write about my problems in what I hope will not be taken as a whiney tone. So, without further ado...

I am a Christian. Steadied yourself yet? Don't worry, I'll wait. Ready now? Okay. You probably had flashes of Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson and other polemicists having a party at the Westboro Baptist Church. Cool your jets, I hate those people just as much as you do. They do nothing but attempt to further a religion they falsely claim through appealing to uneducated, blind, and (potentially) prejudiced masses. These people then believe that the hate they receive in return from the mainstream media is the fulfillment of the Biblical passages that speak of religious persecution directed at Christians. What they fail to realize is that their hatred of entire people groups is not only un-Christlike, but also a stumbling block that they place in front of anyone on the outside looking in at Christianity. These "Christians," (quotations put in place to distinguish them from true Believers) focus on petty arguments within the political world, such as the reversal of Roe vs. Wade and their blind march as troops for a corrupt Republican party whose label of political conservatism they believe equates to their own label of religious conservatism. They fail to realize that their money and energy could be better spent trying to better the lives of people across the world through humanitarian efforts.

I am nothing like the "Christians" displaying themselves in the media. I am an outspoken, liberal feminist who believes that people have the right to decide what substances to put into their own bodies, that denying people of reproductive age access to birth control creates problems rather than solving them, and that making a difference in the world our children grow up in begins with ensuring that their generation receives proper education in their schools in the form of comprehensive, mandatory economics and health classes at all grade-levels (while remaining age-appropriate, of course). Sex, controlled substances and money are no longer issues spoken of in hushed tones behind locked doors, and treating them as such forces children to grow up uninformed and educationally stunted against the backdrop of their more rounded peers. Even as Christians, we cannot raise children in a perfect, moral world and expect them to forever live deluded.

Okay...on to part two. I am from the South. Yes, the American South. And I fucking hate it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to burn down the visage of my heritage; I love that I grew up fishing with a cane pole and worms I dug up myself, feeding honeysuckle to my grandfather's cows, eating honeysuckle myself, eating grits and fried bread for breakfast, and living with venison, bream, and bass as dietary staples. I hate being Southern because people automatically assume that I'm an uneducated conservative who wears "G.R.I.T.S." and "Carolina Girl" shirts, loves cowboys, and thinks that Miley Cyrus and Trace Adkins are God's gift to music. I am none of those things. I don't wear Confederate flags, I'm not inbred, I think the Ronald Reagan and the George Bushes were the worst presidents in history, and I don't think Mexicans are stealing our jobs.

As Steve-O (SLC Punk) would say: By definition, I'm not a redneck and god dammit I ain't a fucking hick.