There was blog...
And I'm not sure how interesting this blog will be. So, perhaps not only will it start like the Bible, but it will be just as much a thriller. Hopefully not.
This will be the place where I write about my personal dealings with living in a town that literal forced a man to move his family because he was an atheist. Seriously, read his story. My goal is to make it better. I didn't go to East Central before Dr. Zellner left, but I do understand how he felt.
I started a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance with some of my friends in the Fall of 2011. The word secular makes people pretty uncomfortable around here. I know what you're thinking. "Isn't East Central a state school, thus secular?" Well, if you consider a campus with a Christian chapel secular, then I guess so. Yes, we are technically supposed to be secular. But technicalities don't carry too much weight in the bible belt.
So, needless to say, I have has some pretty interesting dealings. I didn't realize they were anything less than normal until it struck me that many people out there may not deal with the things my friends and I do. Perhaps it was all the "America is a Christian nation" propaganda going to my head, but I suppose I forgot other people exist outside the bible belt. Maybe you've never had to stop a fellow student from starting a very racist group from organizing on campus. Maybe you've never been locked out of a classroom when your professor discovered your lack of faith. Maybe you can throw a rock without hitting a church in your town. Maybe your not feared like Joe Stalin just because you are an atheist. Maybe no one has ever attempted to "lay [their] hands on you," in prayer over your soul. Maybe you've never had gay people distance themselves from you because you're an atheist. Yes, even the gays are mostly Christian here, which is very frustrating to my double minority friends looking for boyfriends/girlfriends. Maybe you've never been literally followed by a group of skin heads in a truck threatening you because you're too feminine or masculine for your gender. If you haven't, my life may be mildly interesting to you.
If you have, well, I'm feel your frustration. If you have, I'm also assuming you also live in a very evangelical state.
I will try to keep you updated on my very blasphemous activities while I'm still in Ada. Like Dr. Zellner, I too will probably end up leaving. However, there is a lot of work to be done here. And, a lot to be said for the people who are working to change places like these. I hope I can leave at least a small impact at my school.
