Religious

Freedom
by Emilio G

TableofContents
1. Introduction
2. MypersonalStory
3. Activistsstory
4. Howyoucanhelp
5. Conclusion

Introduction
Religionislikeapairofshoes.....Findonethatfitsforyou,
butdon'tmakemewearyourshoes.

GeorgeCarli
n
Canyouimaginebeingjudgedforwhatyoubelievein?
FormanyAmericans,religiousrightshasbeenastruggle
formanyyears.Throughoutthisarticle,Iwillbegivingyou
examplesonhowpeoplearescaredofbeinganoutofthe
closetjew,atheist,U.U,andmuchmorereligions.There
Willbestrategiesinthisarticletohelpyoutrytonotbe
afraidofyourrights!

Mypersonalstory

Beingaunitarianuniversalist,whenaskedwhatreligionI
follow,Ihaveheardsomanydifferentopinions.Ihave
heardthat'sstupidtoMyreligionisbetter.Ifeellike
peopleshouldunderstandthatthisisafreecountryfora
reasonandpeoplecanbelieveinanythingtheywant.I
don'tcareifyou'remormon,jewish,romancatholic,and
evenifyou'reanatheistYoucanstillbemyfriend.
Peopleshouldjustbejudgedinoneway.Iftheyarenice
toyou,andthepeoplearoundyou.
ThereasonIchosereligiousrightsformyactivisttopicis
becausepeopleshouldn'tbeafraidtobewhotheyare.
WhatImeanbythatisthatwhateveryoubelievein,
believeinit.Itdoesn'tmatterwhatotherpeoplethink,and
ifyoulosefriendsforwhatyoubelievein,thenfinethey
probablyweren'tgoodfriendsanyway.

ActivistsStory

Myactivist'sstorystartedwhenshewasasophomoreat
CranstonWest.Shefirstnoticedaprayeratschoolher
schoolwhenherfriendpointeditout,andshewas
shocked.Myactivist(whosenameisjessicaahlquist)has
beenanoutoftheclosetatheistonlysincesheknew
abouttheprayer.Shewenttoasubcommitteemeeting
afteraparent
complainedabout
the
prayer.Shehad
beendoing
researchonthe
prayer,of
prayersin
schoolsin
general,and
duringthat
timeoverthe
summer,
anotherparent
kindofbeathertoitandmadeacomplaint.Therewere
subcommitteemeetingsbecausetheschooldidntwantto
justremoveitrightaway.Atthefinalmeeting,thefull
committeevotedtokeeptheprayer.TheACLUhad
contactedJessica,andshetoldthemthatshewould
becometheplaintiffinalawsuit.InApril,theyfileda
lawsuitagainstthecityofCranstontotaketheprayer
down.Afterthis,Jessicalostlotsoffriends,shegotdeath
threats,etc.Ayearlater,Jessicagot1,000dollarsfrom
theFreedomofreligionfoundation,andshegavea
speechofherstory.Thisismyactivist'sstory.

Howcanyouhelp?

Itsverysimple,youcanhelpreligiousrightsbynotjudging
otherpeople'sreligion,nottalkabouthowyou'rereligionis
theonlyonethatmakessense,anddonttrytoneglect
anyinformationthatpeopletrytogiveyouabouttheir
religion!

Conclusion

Dontbeacriticonreligion,that'sthemainmessagei'm
tryingtogetacross.Ihopeyoulearnedsomethinginthis
article.

WorksCited

https://ffrf.org/outreach/awards/studentactivistawards/ite
m/11995jessicaahlquistthomasjeffersonyouthactivist

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/rhodeislandcitye
nragedoverschoolprayerlawsuit.html?_r=0

http://www.alternet.org/story/153803/why_is_an_atheist_hi
gh_school_student_getting_vicious_death_threats

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/08/01/p
oliticianwhocalledjessicaahlquistanevillittlethingemb
roiledincontractscandalinrhodeisland/