Dang Bible Belt

I just read an article about a bill on Tennessee's capitol hill that made me a bit angry. If passed into law, this bill would ban Tennessee teachers from Kindergarten to 8th grade from talking about homosexuality in "prepared materials and instruction." This is totally ridiculous. Whether or not you agree with people being gay, there is no denying that it is a part of the world and cannot be ignored. The funny thing is that most of the time the students really don't care all that much. Sure, when someone first comes out everyone is a little weird around them but that goes away pretty quickly and the ones that make a big deal out of it become the minority. It's the adults who make a big deal out of it. A lot of the teachers even know which kids are gay and don't treat them any differently than the others. This bill is DUMB and I am so embarrassed that it is happening in Tennessee.

Now on to a quasi-related topic. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Sumner County School System (where I go) for 'unconstitutional religious events' in county schools. I guess I should explain a little bit about where I live before I go on. Tennessee is part of what is known as the Bible Belt. Christianity is literally EVERYWHERE. For example, there are 42 churches in Hendersonville, a city that is about 33 square miles (5.6 of those are water). Escaping is impossible. I'm not saying that Christianity is a bad thing, in fact I find it quite wonderful, but I believe that it should not intertwine with public schools. In my high school's cafeteria there are regularly youth pastors from different churches around town and one day the Gideons  were even there handing out Bibles. I just think that other religions should be respected. Christ didn't go around shoving his ministry in everyone's face, he took it to them with love and understanding. Forcing our beliefs on others is ultimately crippling to the message we should be sending. This country is not run by a religious leader. There's a reason we have a separation of church and state. I may not sound like the best Christian for saying all this, and if that's the case then good. I don't want to be a Christian, I want to be a lover of people and a lover of God. If I am that, then I've done my job.