ILLUSTRATION/ Shanon Pan
By Viviam Liao
Staff Writer
As a child, I would proudly declare that my family attended church on Sundays. However, as I grew older, I felt unwelcome due to my classmates’ negative comments and reactions toward my religion. To fit in, I stopped mentioning church and instead covered it up by talking about extracurricular classes. My self-esteem crumbled when I realized that my religious identity would not be widely accepted. Practicing tolerance for other people’s beliefs can eliminate discrimination in our community. Our community should reflect a place where everyone feels welcome regardless of labels such as gender, race, ethnicity and religion.
Intolerance towards Christians is prejudice against them, their religion and practices. Discrimination happens daily in our community, but not many people recognize it. Such examples includes stereotyping Christians as homophobic and against reproductive rights. However, we should not assume all Christians belong to these categories.
In fact, a number of Christians accept those in the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Center of American Progress, as of 2020, about 48% of Christians, including Evangelical Protestants, Historic Black Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Mainline Protestants, show tolerance towards queer rights.
In the Bible, one of God’s greatest commandments is “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).
Another overgeneralization about Christians is that they are all anti-abortion. While the Bible does imply in Psalm 139:13 that an unborn child is as important to God as anyone else, Christians believe that they should be loving towards all. According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2022, about 55% of Christians are pro-life.
All in all, Christians who hold anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion beliefs should still be welcomed. To everyone, if someone does not agree with your opinion, feel free to steer clear, but still be polite because they aren’t not actively hurting you.
In addition, allow others to have their own personal beliefs and do not try to change their mentality. People will tend to distance themselves from things they dislike and try to change others to fit their mentality. This us vs. them mentality is ubiquitous in diverse communities, and actively shunning others will magnify this mentality.
Some might say that some Christians fit these stereotypes and are hateful towards others who do not share the same opinion, but everyone should be allowed to have their own beliefs.
However, any person who claims they are Christian and proceeds to actively hate and harm others who disagree, does not classify as Christian according to the Bible. Furthermore, topics regarding abortion and LGBTQ+ rights are not concrete, there will always be disagreements and controversy amongst the people. As long as people are not harming or making others uncomfortable, they are allowed to hold their personal beliefs.
Ultimately, we are all human and made of the same genetic material. While we may all have different opinions, we should be able to accept others, regardless of constricting labels we often place on ourselves.