Imagine trying to go to school, but you don't want to out of fear of being harassed for what you believe, or more accurately, what you don't believe in. Going onto social media and seeing nothing but harassment from peers, and strangers. Getting told to get out and leave because you don't belong there. Being called devil-worshipper, evil little thing, and even Satan. All different kinds of names people get called when they tell someone they are atheist. An atheist is someone who disbelieves or lacks belief of God or gods. When you tell someone that you are atheist and then everyone knows, you'll get some bad feed back, and not very much support, but my question is, Why? Why always seems to be the question, doesn't it? Why do you do this? Why didn't you do this? Why did you say that? Why don't you? Why someone may choose to be atheist is their own personal reasoning, but one should feel threatened to come out and say it. It shouldn't matter on what our religion is, but yet some people believe it does. Many people believe that atheists should be singled out. Singling anyone out can make them feel self conscious or feel like what they believe is wrong.  Atheists can be harassed for not believing in God or a god, and are socially and legally discriminated against. Although some do know the impact it can make on someone else, others do not fully understand the impact it can make on someone. Trust me when I tell you that what you say to someone can, not saying it will, make an impact on them.

When anyone says something that singles you out, you can feel self conscious about it. In this case when you single out someone’s religion, it doesn't leave a good feeling. You may feel like what you believe is actually wrong but the thing is what you feel cannot be wrong. Its an opinion, just as this article that you are currently reading. For 16 year old Jessica Ahlquist, a big catholic banner hung in her school hallway, but she is atheist. Jessica said: “It seemed like it was saying, every time I saw it, "You don't belong here."”(Libertarian) After being picked out of the crowd like a black rose in a bush of white roses, it's like everyone is looking at you and watching you. Making comments as you walk past and talking about you behind your back. For Nicole Smalkowski, she was accused of stealing by her classmates and “After two years of bullying, her parents chose to homeschool her.”(Libertarian) Parents shouldn't have to be homeschooling their kids because they are being harassed for their beliefs. Kids should be kids, able to get an education and the rewind and watch some television after completing that night's homework. On the topic of television, how often do we see an open Atheist in the media? Not very often. Like how often do you see an open atheist in a movie or TV show? “Gay characters and individuals are far more visible than atheists, which is yet another example of how even gays are less despised in America than atheists.”(Cline)

  Gage Pulliam took a picture of the plaque in his biology classroom that listed the ten commandments and sent it to Freedom From Religion Foundation(FFRF) anonymously and when the FFRF asked them to take it down, but students started a petition to save it. Speculation started as to who sent the photo and when Pulliam came out saying it was him  “his mother worried for his safety. She also worried that his teachers might grade him differently. His sister, an eighth-grader, said other students wouldn’t look at her, and "in one instance she couldn’t even get a class project done because her group members refused to talk to her."”(Hamblin) A mother shouldn't have to worry about the safety of her son at school. Isn’t school supposed to be a safe learning environment for kids? Yeah, it’s obviously not always that way. Makes me really think about how safe I really am anywhere. If school isn’t a safe place, then what is?

Atheists can be harassed for what they believe in. Anyone can be harassed for their religion, but for an Atheist, they are harassed for not believing in God or a god. For a thirteen year old girl, she was bullied for coming out and saying she was atheist. ¨She even received harassment from one of her teachers, telling her: "This is a Christian country, and if you don't like it, get out."¨(Libertarian) Receiving harassment from your peers in one thing and to be expected, but receiving harassment from your teacher is terrible. Feeling dread and fear at school, not really wanting to be there anymore. We all know that feeling where it's like you wish you could just disappear. Maybe out of sadness, fear, embarrassment. One way or another, it’s never a good feeling and nobody deserves to feel that way. For Jessica Ahlquist, harassment for coming out as being an Atheist was even worse. “She received death threats on social media, insults from her classmates, and was even called an "evil little thing" by her state representative.”(Libertarian) Being bullied from peers is, again, something to be expected unfortunately, but to be harassed by teachers and even a state representative makes you question is it really safe to say anything without getting judged by anyone and everyone? Poor Jessica even had  “to be escorted to and from school because of threats against her life.”(Libertarian) That is really taking it to a whole different level. Not liking someone's religion is one thing, but threats against their life just because they don't believe in God or a god doesn't mean they need to die. Taking it such extremes as to say something like that can make them even depressed or feel suicidal and might start believing what you say is true. In the end, you may even have caused someone to end their life when in reality they have barely started their life. Why take it now, and miss out on all the great things.

People who come out as being Atheist can be not only socially discriminated against but legally as well. Did you know that if you are Atheist you cannot even run for office? Seven states still have a ban that prohibits Atheists from holding office. Those seven states are Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. If this is a free country, then why are atheists prohibited from holding office? Just because they do not believe in a god does not mean that they are any different from me or you. They may not preach their beliefs out loud or say a prayer at night or go to church on Sundays, but they are still people and don't they deserve to be treated the same way? “53% of Americans are least likely to vote for an atheist for president, favoring a candidate who has smoked pot, never held office or had an extramarital affair.”(Hafiz) Atheists don't seem to have as many rights as somebody who is Christian. Even not believing in God could make it harder for somebody to get a job. “ In 2010, a math teacher was fired from her position at a Catholic school after someone noticed she’d joined an atheist website from her home computer and made comments on Facebook about not believing in God. A few years prior, a government and history teacher in Texas was allegedly fired simply over the suspicion that he was an atheist.”(Wing)

This is a free country, yet people would rather reject or fire an Atheist employee. How would you feel if you got fired for being a brunette? Or how about being fired because you're African-American? What if you even got fired because they found out you were a LGBTQ+? It's still all the same thing, discrimination. You may not be able to pick your race, or natural hair color or sexuality. Religion is something you can decide, but it's not always easy to be who you are. If you're a parent with children and something happened between you and your significant other and there was a file for divorce, you may lose custody of your children for being atheist. “If atheists can’t be trusted to be good employees, they certainly can’t be trusted to be responsible parents.”(Wing) Even if it is your child and you deserve custody of him/her they may not even grant it because of your lack of belief in God or a god. People say a child needs a parent with religious beliefs. Someone to guide their religious beliefs. Although having a religion “helps explain who they are, why they are in their current circumstances, where they are going, and perhaps most of all tells them that whatever happens to them ? no matter who awful or difficult to accept ? it is part of a grand, cosmic plan.”(Cline) Not having a religion where you necessarily worship God or a god, studies have shown a correlation between atheism and education levels. Especially in the sciences, you remain more open to the idea of scientific possibilities and it's not all the doing of God or a god.  What are you going to do if you have a little boy and when they are 7 or 8 and really want to join boy scouts because it sounds so much fun and all his friends are in it, but then is denied because he is atheist? Then all you have is a sad little boy crying into your shoulder asking why he couldn't join. “The Boy Scouts of America still prohibits an atheist from joining its ranks.”(Wing) They must pledge to “do my duty to God and my country”, but how can you do that if they don’t believe in God? Exactly, you can't hide behind a mask of lies, and you certainly don’t want to be teaching your kids to lie by lying so they may become a boy scout.

After reading my goal for this was to allow you to understand the impact it can truly make on somebody when you make fun of them, even as a joke, about their looks, sexuality, or religion. It can impact them for the rest of their life, not saying it always will. Some people can shrug it off as no big deal, or some people will tell them to just “grow up”. It’s not always as easy as it sounds. They make a comment that hits deep, and then keep saying something. All they are doing is rubbing salt in the wound. The more salt, the worse it's going to get. The words somebody says is like the salt and the wound was the first shot. Don't let them pull you down, only to drown in a river full of lies and discrimination. Be the Phoenix that rises from the ashes again and shows the world that some words can’t destroy you. Go out and tell the world who you really are, and if acceptance isn't what you receive than ask that question that everyone always asks: Why? Find the answer with that big open mind of yours and be you. Most atheists hide their entire lives and never come clean, they remain invisible to the world of who they are. Are you going to follow in their footsteps or break the chain? We all know the what the right answer is, so don’t just say you will. Do something about it. I know you can.

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