Lots of people send me essays they’ve written, asking if I’d like to post it on Pharyngula. I usually don’t, simply because I’d be inundated (so don’t take this as an invitation!), and in most cases, those people ought to start their own blog and put it there. I thought I’d make an exception, though: this one is from Kelly Meagher, who is 14, and living in Florida, and writing this for a school essay.
Don’t nit-pick over it, although I know there are pedants here who will anyway. Read it as representative of a growing attitude among our young people — an attitude I find very encouraging. It’s also an example of a junior high school kid being unafraid to come out about their godlessness, even in a place with a painfully conservative reputation.
The country we live in now is a strange one. Essentially, it is the melting pot of the entire world. People from across the globe come together here to live the “American Dream.” The American Dream is different from person to person. Some say it’s money, others say the ability to have a nice house and raise the perfect family in it. I say, it’s the right to love whoever, and marry them if you want to, and being able to practice your religion without being rejected for it, or not being rejected for not practicing a religion at all! I would make these happen if I were president.
I live theater. I spend my time either memorizing lines, learning choreography, or going thru the notes of a song. I meet a lot of different people in theater. Some of these people are gay or bi. Sometimes, when we sit down during a break and just talk, I will hear the horror stories that their lives lead. One of my closest friends told me of how when he first came out to his parents by introducing his boyfriend to them, they responded ever so politely by kicking him out of the house. Others tell of how they received hate letters from people at their schools. And still more talk of friends who committed suicide because of those letters.
I would change that in several different ways: one would be making taunting and bullying an actual and true crime. And second would be by making gay marriage legal, in every single state. If a straight person like myself can marry and love whomever I choose, why can’t everyone–especially including gays–be able to do the same?
Not only am I a theater dork, I happen to be an atheist. Now your first thought, if you didn’t know this already, may be, “How can she be an atheist, she seems like an okay person!” If you just thought something along those lines, I’m not surprised, I get that a lot. But if you thought, “She’s an atheist? Okay I’m ignoring her,” then that is religious discrimination. It happens all the time. Most people are brought up thinking we are evil Satanists that try to break into people’s minds and rewire them so that they worship a demon. This is a huge misconception. I want to break down this wall that people have been building since the B.C. years, and create a place where, no matter if you an atheist or a Muslim, because this happens to them too, you can worship who or what you want.
Creating gay rights and abolishing religious discrimination does no harm to anyone. It is only beneficial. By giving gays the rights they need, they can finally be a true part of society. And everyone’s rights are protected by the Constitution, so gays can finally be included in the category of “everyone.” By having people not give someone a hard time just because they are Atheist, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or even Christian, people are able to be more open. They don’t have to hold back on an interesting part of themselves to avoid being a social taboo.
When I hear my friends talking about people they know that took their own lives, or I overhear people saying how bad someone is because they worship something different than they do, it makes me pretty sad. These people don’t realize how they can change that. But I have. And, if I were president, this is what I would do.
Truly breathtaking by the sheer simplicity and clearness in which she writes.
Congrats Kelly, you’ve succeeded in pulling me out of my lurker cave.
Sorry Kelly, I guess this means: no prom for you!
As someone who taught eighth grade for a few years, I can say that I would have been overjoyed if something that well written (nevermind the content) ended up on my desk, pedants be damned. I hope this is an emerging trend, Kelly seems like an exemplary citizen.
Pure awesomeness- well done Kelly. It’s my observation also, based on observing some of my daughter’s friends, that she may represent a significant trend (and I live in a fairly conservative corner of Ohio.) There may yet be hope for this country!
Well that’s certainly an encouraging essay. I hope she’s part of a growing trend, and not an exception. If the younger family members I know around that age are any indication she very well may be.
I can hardly type this with the tears in my eyes, I am a pussy I know but when kids display a mind like hers and big heart I can’t help but to be overjoyed. It gives me hope. I am scared to die, not because I fear death so much but what the world will be like for my daughter and for her kids if she is to have them. Kelly gives me hope that it may not be as bad as I think it could be.
I’ll never have any kids, but if I did, I’d want them to be just like you, Kelly.
I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to writing, but aside from a few mistakes (“I live theater”), I have no complaints. That was remarkably well-written for a middle school student.
Keep it up, Kelly.
Actually that one could work. “I live [activity]” could indicate that one lives and breathes that particular activity. It’s a quick way of saying you have a deep passion for something.
That being said, there were a few more obvious errors, but none more than one would expect in a well written essay by a fourteen year old.
@9: “I life for [activity].”
How is “I live theater” an error? That’s a pretty common idiomatic construction which concisely expresses a clear (albeit hyperbolic) meaning. Some people live grammar nazism. ;)
It’s not nitpicking to note that it’s not possible for a president to make it so that people won’t be rejected for having a religion or not having one, or for being gay or what-not, either.
Unless you make the US into a totalitarian state, of course.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Wow, I just ironically failed.
Anyway, that wasn’t the point I was trying to make.
Sorry, but “I live theater” is a more forceful and arresting phrase than “I live for theater”. It’s GOOD, colorful writing.
Wow, I just ironically failed.
Anyway, that wasn’t the point I was trying to make.
Phenomenal. Especially for where she lives. Way to go, Kelly. I’ll vote for you in 2032.
I think there are more “Kelly” types in this upcoming generation of kids (16 and under)… that’s been my observation anyhow. And I couldn’t be more excited to see how they are able to change this country in another 15 – 20 years… it’s what allows me to put up with the bile, fear-mongering, racism and hatred from the conservative and religious right-wing in this country: the knowledge that they are an aging, dying breed.
I could of course be very wrong, but that’s just what I’ve observed.
Absolutely brilliant! I wish I was as well informed when I was her age. Those topics are two that I’m very passionate about, but, until now, had little hope for (especially the religious bit). I hope she has an open minded teacher. I’ve seen papers get marked down for controversial content before, and this deserves an A (and a standing ovation).
What a beatiful example of a caring, intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate, observant person.
Man, they just didn’t make like they do now!
I guess I haven’t taught enough eighth-graders, because I was suffering from recurring pangs of pedantry while I was reading her essay, but the fact remains that it really is something good to see coming from someone so young, who does not enjoy the advantages that I have to be able to hold such enlightened opinions.
In fact, throwing my mind back, I can see that she is orders of magnitude more refined in her ideas that I was at that age.
So bully for you, Kelly! Give ’em hell!
Well done Kelly! I hope your attitude rubs off on everyone around you.
This is a point that doesn’t get made too often. Gay teen agers have a higher rate of suicide than their peers. It is hard to disentangle causes and effects in statistics like this but I’m sure the endless quest of fundie xians to find a safe minority to hate is part of it. At any rate, it doesn’t help the kids.
I’ve heard it is even higher among trans.
I wish Kelly Meagher were my daughter.
Also,
“I would make these happen if I were president.”
That’s so cute.
Glen Davidson wrote:
You are absolutely correct, but think back to when you were 14 years old: did you know that*? I certainly did not!
* If you did understand that functions of the various branches of the American government in that much detail when you were young, well, good for you too!
As both a gay man and an athiest it gives me great hope for our country to see attitudes in young people like Kelly’s–whether they speak out or not. WJason
(I can’t get (that thing you sign in to to leave comments) to give me an account so I have sign in through Yahoo and have this ubergeeky handle. :-(
)
“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
— Thomas Jefferson.
And no one had a problem with Buchanan as President. Over 150 years ago. Maybe it’s Kelly Meagher who has the same degree of enlightenment as used to exist but it’s other people who have moved backward? Just a thought.
Kelly, you just brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for saying so succinctly what many people have been trying to say for so long.
Kelly: take a bow. You did good, Kiddo. When the time comes, you have my vote.
I’m so proud of you Kelly. Really great job. I hope this assignment gave you a craving for writing and other mass communication because you are very talented. Being able to communicate things that you care about is a valuable, hard-earned skill. I also think that you would be great in speach/debate. Take care, live well, and please keep writing.
Excellent essay, and it makes me optimistic that our world continues to move in the right direction. I can easily picture my daughter having written something similar when she was 14 (this is 15 years ago). Back in the mid 60s, when I was 14, it just would not have been possible, even in the extremely unlikely event it had ever occurred to me. I recall a few kids at school using term “queer” as some sort of vague insult, but most of us, myself included, didn’t really even know what it meant. I certainly did, however, know better than to go public with being an atheist at that age! Yikes. How wonderful that some young people feel comfortable expressing themselves more honestly these days.
As for the comment by the creative writing wannabe – “I live theater” is crisp, effective and evocative. Bravo!
I’d shudder to think what I would have written at 14. I think I was still cool with Jesus at that point.
Its good to see younger teens are more progressive than when I was that age, which wasn’t too long ago.
I can understand the idea behind wanting to be President, to change the world. Plenty of people (and kids, I suppose) would look at the President that way. They seem to have that power.
With any luck, we’ll all manage to change the world a bit without having to be President.
Anyway, best wishes to Kelly out there in Florida. It helps to put my old struggles with the parental units in perspective, that I was never kicked out of the house or bullied to death.
I applaud Kelly for being such a bold and open-minded young woman. But I also applaud the readers for giving her such encouraging feedback. I hope she gets plenty of it, because she certainly deserves it.
Keep it up, Kelly.
I too am very impressed by this essay and on the whole I think it is much better written than I could have at the same age, and better than most of what I write even now. However, I suppose it is just my nature to be pedantic; especially about one thing:
Rights are protected, privileges are granted. Everyone has the right to marry the person of their choice, but gays are currently barred from exercising that right.*
The thing is she gets it right in the very next sentence:
Maybe just a semantic quibble and I do not point this out as a criticism of the essay. Just one of my pet peeves about the definition of “rights”.
Still, this paper is an “A” in my book.
—
*even if one argues that marriage is a privilege granted by the state instead of a right, the current discrimination against gays violates the requirement that the laws not discriminate on the basis of sex. And that does not even need to include sexual orientation. The point being that one can only marry a member of a particular sex and thus the law discriminates on the basis of sex.
Looks like it.
Or it could be a typo. Look where I and O are on your keyboard.
Maybe it didn’t even have that narrow meaning yet, and just meant “not aligned with the mainstream, eccentric, crazy”?
The same word in German, quer, just means “transverse”.
Hmmmm… so perhaps the fight for peace, tolerance and undesratnding is not entirely a lost cause ?
Congrats, Kelly! You might need to polish your writing style a little bit (you have time for this), but your ideas are all in the right place!
“Creating gay rights and abolishing religious discrimination does no harm to anyone.”
It’s really such a simple concept, and she stated it so nicely, yet so many people just don’t get it.
Very well said, Kelly! Keep talking to your classmates – you can help make this real just by being yourself and letting people know what you think.
For you and everyone else – there is a new campaign for equality:
http://www.wegiveadamn.org/
Thank you so much for sharing this. I sometimes despair about the future of this country, but a few more smart young ladies like this one, and we are good to go. It’s just the reasonableness of all her explanations! No mysteries, no “take it on faith.” Big, big props to the parents, who have obviously decided to raise a smart, rational human being. We, and most certainly Florida, need many more of these kinds of people.
Applause, Kelly! You go!
I’d write more, but my opinions have already been stated by others and my bus is about to arrive at its destination.
One final thought: Don’t let the school system get in the way of your education.
Such an amazing person. She’s only four years my younger, but she has wisdom far beyond that of most of my peers. Congratulations Kelly, you have proven yourself smarter than most politicians, and a lot of your elders. Thanks PZ for posting this
Celtic_Evolution said:
What you’ve observed is right. I wish I could find where I read it, but among younger people (teens to about 25), almost 1/3 say they are atheist/non-religious.
True, this is for religiousness, not liberalism, but the two are strongly correlated. I think it’s safe to say the younger generations, being more atheistic, are also more liberal.
In any case, we’ll know for sure in just a few decades when the “baby boomer” generation is dying off, and you’re going to find a steep increase in the percentage of atheists/liberals in the country because of the baby boomer’s high percentage of religiousness/conservativism will no longer be part of the calculation.
Way to go, Kelly!!
I predict for you a bright, successful, interesting, exciting, EXCEPTIONAL life!
Maybe it’s just a little bit (so far), but you’ve already changed the world.
As a newspaperman since 1975 — I don’t count the years delivering said papers — I can tell you that this is written better than many pieces I have seen professionally.
My kids do pretty well writing, too, at ages 19 and 15, but this is good — and you can tell it’s heartfelt. Way to go, Kelly.
— Slaughter
Excellent essay, etc. etc. — but I was bothered by one particular point:
If it involves violence, it is already illegal. If it’s being done in the school, it probably already involves sanctions. But if “taunting and bullying” becomes an actual and true CRIME, free speech is in deep trouble. Not only is the category far too broad, but it makes government responsible for making sure its citizens are nice. Bad idea…
Regardless of anything else, I want to say that young people like this are the things that don’t have me in utter dispare about the future of humanity. So, cheers to Kelly. I hope she continues to speak (or write) out.
And, grammar discussions are fun, so I’m going to jump in here…
I think this is correct, though a while ago it may not have been. Perhaps, “I live [activity]” was used enough that either the rule changed, or people just take the word “for” as implied.
In any case, according to my sister, who was in drama/theatre/etc and pointed out to me any times, that “theater” is the place, and “theatre” is the activity. So, she should have said “I live theatre.” Perhaps this was a local colloqualism though. Anyone else heard of this distinction?
-Kemanorel
I tend to take it more as the words “and breathe” being deemed unnecessary.
Nate6 @ #2
“Sorry Kelly, I guess this means: no prom for you!”
Kelly wrote:
“If a straight person like myself…”
Nate 6, she can go to her prom. LOL
Great job, Kelly. You have a bright future.
re 46:
I think David @ 35 is correct that it is likely a typo for “I love theater.” It is just fortuitous that “live” also makes idiomatic sense.
And “theatre” vs “theater”, never heard that before. I thought it was just American vs British English, like “color” and “colour”.
That was very inspiring and a stark, hopeful contrast to the current barrage of right-wing populism.
Come November 2032, you’ll have my vote!
For your review, Mr. Myers:
Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I am a creation/science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida. I have been a high school science teacher since 1976. I’ve been very active in the creation/evolution controversy for quite some time.
I like turtles.
Love, Kent
*clenched-tentacle salute*
Nice work, Kelly!
We live in the mountains of Virginia, in a town where there are still people proud of the fact that our school system was the last in the state to integrate in the 50’s.
My son is 14 and a vocal atheist. He says that at least 10 of his friends are also atheists. He seems to think that there is a wave happening. I just wish he was more interested in organizing.
Yes, living in Virginia has gotten pretty scary as of late. Our new gov and AG have every intention of taking us back 150 years.
Molly
Kelly: APPLAUSE!
I think the vital point is the
JeffersonianMeagherian assertion that treating people equally does no harm to anyone! It’s so important to keep reminding ourselves and our neighbors of that simple fact.C_E (@17):
That’s my sense, too, from what my now-19-yo daughter tells me. I have great hope for an increasingly egalitarian future.
PZ (@OP):
Repressed pedantry leaking out:
;^)
Myself, I have no hope for the future.
It was a nice piece – all the more so given the author’s age.
I wish Kelly had tackled the most vital issue, though, the one whose absence speaks volumes and cuts to the very heart of all related matters:
Will the iPad ultimately succeed, or fail?
You can’t duck this question forever, young lady.
That isn’t even remotely true.
The burning questions today are:
1. What is up with Brittany Spears right now?
2. How come no one can find our Kenyan born, Moslem terrorist president’s birth certificate?
3. Will getting laid make Tiger Wood’s golf scores better or worse?
4. Is Oprah gay?
5. How come Michael Jackson canceled his world tour?
RE: “I live theater” pedantry…
I humbly submit both as a former English major, and as a (admittedly amateur) writer and journalist, that:
“I live theater”
and
“I live for theater”
… carry entirely different meanings, and therefor correcting the former with the latter would in fact alter its intended meaning in a not inconsequential way.
I would also add that I am amazed that PZ would so accurately predict that the discussion would involve some manner of pedantry. Who knew?
I sure as hell wasn’t that eloquent or clearheaded at 14.
FTFY
Aww. I was 14 only 6 years ago and this kid is already 10 times better than I was at that age. *Jealous*
You just had to open the door, huh?
It’s a fail. Between smart phones, laptops, and netbooks, it provides no reasonable application for the price they’re asking.
1.) They’re pulling some really bastard kind of stuff like not putting a USB port on there so if you want more memory you HAVE to spend hundreds more for the larger hard drive, when a larger harddrive is really much cheaper.
Pricing:
WiFi/WiFi + 3G
$500/$629, $600/$729, $700/$829 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB respectively? ROFL. $100 extra for an extra 16GB? $200 extra for an extra 48GB? ROFL. Even if you’re talking about flash drives, 16GB is only $40. They’re charging you 2.5 times the real cost for the memory. If you go into external hard drives: You can get 500GB for $100 for an external.
Oh, and add $15/month for 250MB and $30/month for unlimited 3G use on top of a normal cell phone bill if you get the 3G enabled version.
2.) Doesn’t look like it will get flash either:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-flash/
3.) No multitasking.
WTF are they playing at? iPad = iPod Touch XL
Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with Apple. The iPods are great, and they make a decent computer. I love my little iPod Shuffle (first generation) but the iKotex is worthless. It provides no function that a smart phone or laptop can’t do.
I’ll stick with a normal laptop.
-Kemanorel
P.S. Anyone else wonder why they named something the iPad, and then made the iPod Shuffle (second generation) look like a tampon?
Kudos to you, Kelly Meagher!
What does the USA law say about a 14 yo becoming president?
Flea@63-
Officially, there is an age requirement to be at least 35 years old to be POTUS. However, I always liked the answer in Wild in the Streets.
As we say in Australia:
Good onya, Kelly!
As a 17 year old atheist, in a Catholic school no less (although in Canada), I’d like to add that this is a trend that is definitely growing. A number of my friends are atheists or agnostic, who don’t believe the bullshit that Catholicism spews out about gay people. There’s also quite a few who still believe in god, but also disregard what the church says about gay people. I must say, it’s pretty awesome to experience this trend firsthand. Just thought I’d add my (anecdotal) 2 cents, since I’m in about the same age group as Kelly.
By the way, this is a great essay. It may have errors or what have you, but it’s clear and simple, and gets the point across. I guarantee you’ll see more of this PZ. You’d be surprised how accepting my generation is.
Wow, there is hope for my home state of Florida after all! I’m showing this to my 14-year old daughter.
Actually, nevermind PZ, you know how accepting my generation is. Maybe that should be directed more towards other commentors.
Kantalope (@54):
As much as I love this essay, I think it takes a more sustained presence to be Mollyworthy.
Which reminds me: Kelly, if you’re reading this, please join our conversation on a regular basis! We need more voices from your generation.
Kemanorel (@61):
Ummm…
First, you do realize that the comment you responded to so earnestly was a joke, right?
And second, did you not notice that we’ve already spent two whole long cranky threads on the iPad last week? It’s really not ground we need to go over again.
Hurray for Kelly! I shall make you an honorary Canadian for exhibiting such tolerance and wisdom.
This was absolutely beautiful. Wonderful job on the essay, Kelly. We’ll get there eventually. :)
It’s good news to hear that the youth doesn’t share the bigotry of the older generation. It’s a good thing she wrote this.
I do have one complaint, though, and it’s over her idea of making mean, bullying speech a crime. I can chalk that up to the ignorance of a 14-year old, but if you really think through what such a law does, it doesn’t just protect the innocent from bullying. It also ends up protecting the bullies from being roundly called out for what they do. The cultural rule “don’t say mean things” is often used to silence atheists too because of the idiotic notion that telling the truth about religion is “hate speech”.
Or to put it another way – don’t forget about the existence of Bill Donahue and what that slimy liar would do with a “hate speech” law in effect he could make use of.
Or to put it an even better way – not all hateful speech is unprovoked and undeserved. Any hate speech rule that ignores that notion and only looks at how hateful the speech is without looking at whether or not the target actually deserves it or not is a rule that will be abused to try to suppress those who speak truth to power.
There is a physical age requirement – minimum 35 years old.
There is no mental age requirement – as was proved by the years from 2000 to 2008.
A wonderful piece! You should be really proud to have your work published (so to speak) at such a young age.
Oh, joy! She used the subjunctive! So lovely to see…nice content, too.
To answer the fake question, being surprisingly awesome.
Kelly is fabulous. I hope she doesn’t have a hard time in her current environment.
Whenever I get depressed about the state of the world I like to think that conservatives, creationists and catholics, along with new-agers and the woo-addled are all in the middle of a huge ‘flaming out’ and that in a few decades we will see the the dominance of rational, science based public policy and humanist social values.
Kelly’s essay makes this a little easier to believe.
I am greatly reassured that there are 14-year-olds who are capable of such reasoned and cogent expression. The young lady in question seems mature beyond her years, she is certainly more socially aware than I was at that age (and also more courageous in openly expressing a position that she knows will likely be met with unwarrented hostility).
Maybe the next generation will finally start to get this stuff right. I just hope that her bravery will not come at too high a price. Few things goad fundies more than young people thinking for themselves, and a teenage girl with more on her mind than god and boy bands will likely drive them to apoplexy. (Ranting theist going on and on about atheists seeking to convert/corrupt god-fearin’ kids in 3,2,1…)
Stick to your principles, Kelly. Young people like you are our best hope for a better tomorrow.
Good for you, Kelly. I am very glad to see what you have written.
A few things to be pedantic about when you are an adult, a college graduate, active politically or in social justice, etc… What is important, though, is what this child says, not so much how she says it. She has plenty of time to discover how the world works, but if she has this level of understanding of fairness she’ll be just fine.
Kelly, you are terrific. Given how problematic teen culture can be, your sanity makes me hopeful for the future. I’m going to use your essay as a starting point for an essay exercise for my 14 year olds!
I teach eighth grade in a very conservative part of San Diego county. I’d say that 14 year old kids who write as well as Kelly aren’t so rare . . . we adults just don’t read enough of what they write. And 14 year old kids who feel as Kelly does aren’t so rare either, we just don’t hear enough of what they say. But 14 year old kids with the self-confidence to write such a paper on such a topic and send it out into the world are rare.
Atheists and gays everywhere tend to keep a low profile, and it does not serve us well. If we would all step forward, I think our numbers would make us a force in the world.
Just want to point out that Key West is in Florida, and it’s not exactly the poster-city for small-minded conservatism.
The northern half of the state, however, is much more, well, Southern.
A 14 year old can’t really be expected to understand rights of legal contract (marriage law), though one should understand the difference between the religious/ceremonial term “marriage” (meaning, wedding, and not the legal term that is at issue) and the legal contract of marriage, as there seems to be a slight confusion in this piece.
Anyway, Grade A from me.
Rock on Kelly and don’t be surprised if a day comes when you discover you have outgrown the region in which you live. It’s small, you’re big.
. . . must. . .fight. . .pedantic urge . . .
*setting down grading pencil*
There.
Forgetting the grammatical errors and syntax, I liked the thoughts represented in the writing.
They show another common but often overlooked American trait, the basic fair-mindedness of most Americans.
Kelly, I’m guessing you won’t make it through all these comments, but I want to say good for you! At your age, I had the same sense of social justice but was still deeply intrenched in Lutheran indoctrination. I wrote an essay (nowhere near as concisely as you did, I’m sure) about why God would want gay marriage to be legal.
Looking back, it makes me laugh. But the Zeitgeist is shifting – I think it will be similar to racism. I work with the elderly and the level of racism is ASTOUNDING compared to what’s acceptable in society. That change happened very quickly, although it’s not finished. I hope that civil rights gets another push for the better with the coming generations.
Kudos Kelley and Matalius! Good to hear from you both. I hope you represent a good chunk of your generation. And Kelley, for what it’s worth, I lived theatre too, once upon a time.
This made my week.
Bravo, Kelly–reading your essay was sheer pleasure. You give me hope for our future.
I have to wonder–do most of your friends think like you do, or are you pretty much the only one with such wonderfully refined sensibilities?
And you’d better get used to being called a “Godless Liberal”. Better yet, you can do like I do: rather than merely getting used to it, I embrace it with gusto! /;-)
this reminds of a moment last night at a JAMES concert in Bournemouth, UK. Tim Booth, the lead singer, was telling of a Greenpeace concert that they had played in front of the Whitehouse in the US. After the gig, ten 15 year olds came up to the band who had finished with ‘Ring the Bells’ (with the words ‘I no longer feel my God is watching over me’) and declared that that was the song that had been the anthem and catalyst for breaking out of a Christian Cult in the deep south. Long live the revolution! As Tim says, ‘This is not the end; a new beginning’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xRALsTGIE (acoustic)
Kelly, that’s a terrific piece of writing and clear, strong reasoning.
I have been an atheist since I was your age – I’m 60 now. I suspect it’s easier where I live, in England. The US seems so dominated by people who take it for granted that everyone is a Christian – here it seems the other way round.
I like it that you live for theatre – my daughter was the same as you at your age, and is away in London learning to be an actor now.
I hope it goes well for you.
Take care of yourself.
Congratulations, Kerry.
We have it easy over here in the UK; being an atheist is no big deal, and I understand that being gay is not a big deal either, most of the time.
From over here, we so often only see the sensational and negative headlines about religious attitudes in the USA, and it is sometimes easy to think that this is what the future looks like.
To know that there are young people like you out there, who are prepared to stand up and say what they (don’t) believe, is wonderful.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you for all the kind comments, Kelly will be thrilled to know she had this kind of impact on so many people; just what a young writer needs.
/proud dad/
This is Kelly (the REAL one) on her father’s account:
I have no idea how to put my feelings of gratitude into actual words right now.
Let’s just say I sat down at the computer and cried tears of utter surprise and joy.
Thank you to everyone, including the Grammar Nazis!
Kelly #94 wrote:
Aha! She comes in!
Hello, Kelly. Nice essay ;)
Good to hear from you Kelly! Just remember, when people nitpick your words on the internet it’s a sign that we really care! :-)
And I can honestly say that reading your essay is making me consider coming out as an atheist to my family. I talk about it on the interwebs, but by not being open about it I’m just contributing to the taboo. And you’re a decade my junior being open about things. /ashamed
just keep on fighting the good fight, you know you have Teh Ebil Pharynguloids at your back
*clenched tentackle salute*
;-)
Thank you, Kelly. You’re a bright spot in the world, keep shining!
tentacle even :-p
my spelling Teh Sux ;-)
Kelly, please, keep up the writing. That’s some great stuff, right there.
I’m happy to see that Kelly has arrived! I hope that you can keep this up Kelly. We need more people like you to fight this fight. I must admit, it took me a long time to “come out” as an atheist, even to my friends. It was probably about 3 or 4 years before I had the courage. Surely there are more like me out there. We need to show our peers that being an atheist isn’t something that you need to hide, and neither is being gay.
This movement is big. Maybe it’s because I’m in a Catholic school, which breeds quite a number of atheists, but there are a lot of people who identify themselves as non-believers. Certainly if we all exercise our political power, we can achieve exactly what you outlined in your essay.
To Paul, #96 (this is still Kelly):
Please do. I’m sure that if not now, they will accept you for who you actually are. The sooner you say you’re an atheist, the sooner they’ll get over the shock, if there even is one.
To the rest of you:
I’ll keep up as much as I can! And please nit-pick. I appreciate constructive criticism.
Wow, you almost reduced a grown man to tears.
I’m only sorry I don’t live in the USA, that way I won’t be able to vote for you for president when you are a few decades old.
If everyone your age grows up to be half as caring and intelligent as you are, I think humanity will be so much better we are now.