Note: This post will be very long and very detailed, so brace yourself. And it might offend some people.
Just to start this thread off, let me first say that I am an Atheist, I am not against God, my family is just made up of Atheists. And that's how I was raised. However I actually did do research in a time of where I was confused, but in the end I stuck with Atheism, it was my choice, not just because I was brought up that way.
Anyways.. so I am 16 years old and attend a public highschool [insert rant here], and in public schools, religion isn't supposed to be taught.
Now to the main story. So I walked into class one day, whipped out my binder and pen, opened up the binder and waited until the class settled down. The teacher usually starts off with some questions that are related to the day's lesson. Today she asked, "If you don't believe in God, raise your hand".
I looked around the classroom, and nobody was raising their hand. I hesitated for a second at the thought of becoming an outcast from my classmates, but after thinking about being true to myself, I raised my hand. The students that I can see out of the corner of my eyes were staring blankly at me. Finally, the awkward moment was over, but not for long. As the teacher turned around to begin writing the aim (the goal of the day's lesson) on the chalkboard, a student next to me asked "Why don't you believe in God? What's wrong with you?".
I looked at him for a moment, trying to pick my words wisely. I then said " I don't believe in God because it's my choice, and you shouldn't be concerned with my lifestyle, we hardly know eachother. And there's nothing wrong with me, I'm normal just like you, but I have a different perspective of God than you do." I never really liked him anyway, so I didn't really care about how I treated him or what he thought of me. A few other students eavesdropped (I don't know how to spell it, my apologies), and my face did fell hot for a second because people were looking at me, and I didn't like this because I'm not a big fan of being in the center of attention. But after a couple of moments, the tension subsided and I felt normal again.
So I read what the aim said and it was something about the Crusades. I knew what the Crusades were, in fact, I could've taught the class on what the Crusades were. It's going to be an easy day, but an interesting one on what my teacher had to say about the Crusades.
To skip a bunch of unimportant things, we progressed through the lesson easily, without any troubles, just like any other normal day. But then the teacher started asking some questions that kind of shocked me because she was asking these questions in a public school. She asked "Who created this Earth?". A student answered "God", and she told him he was correct. I simply stared at the teacher, wondering if she knew where she was teaching, and the fact that God creating the universe is just a belief, not a fact.Although it could possibly be a fact, I don't know, but at the era in our time, it's a belief, not a fact, and school teaches facts, not beliefs. She then asked "What happens if you are bad?". Another student answered "You go to hell", and told im he was correct. At this point I was a bit angry at the fact that she was disrespecting my beliefs, so I thought I'd give her a taste of her own medicine. So she asks the class, "Who is responsible for being the way we are today?". This was a perfect question for me to get my revenge on. I didn't even raise my hand, with all the anger boiling inside of me, my opinion had to be said, I just called out...
"Charles Darwin is responsible, but not for the way we are today, but discovering evolution as the reason for the way we are today, and I think he's correct."
Me and the teacher stared at eachother for what seemed like a very, very long time, as well as the students around me, all of them, staring at me. After a long time of silence, she asks me, "Can you prove any trace of evidence of evolution to the class?" I was expecting this question, and I immediately blurted out "Teamwork".
Once again, another long period of silence, but I wasn't staring at her anymore, I was just staring at my paper full of her beliefs and her religion. After the silence, my teacher then kept on asking the class questions, as if nothing had just happened. I stood silent for the rest of the day. But I did copy my notes because I knew I was going to need to study them for her test.
Finally the bell rang, and I thought I was lucky to come out of that classroom alive. But just as I was walking out of the classroom door, she called me over to her, and I came, and she told me to wait until the rest of the class left. She told me "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell lies to the classroom anymore". I just kept on staring at the floor, I wasn't even going to waste time retaliating. "Let me teach my class the way I want to teach it, and you just stay silent if you disagree with what I am teaching. There was no need for your rudeness." I responded with "I didn't sign up for Catholic school". One last moment of silence, then she said "You are dismissed."
So History class didn't go as smoothly as planned, but at least I left knowing that I put my foot down and didn't act like a man with no pride in what he believes in.
Hopefully next monday will be better.