Have you ever stood up for your beliefs? I mean, truly. I hear many Christians say, "I'm a Christian and I'm not afraid to say it!" Each time, I bite my tongue, and force back the comment, "Of course you aren't afraid! You're not in a room of people who believe you are less than human and deserve to die!"

My area is extremely religious. When I was in seventh grade, the idea of not being a Christian was preposterous. Still, kids would stand up and say, "I'm not afraid to say I'm a Christian!" as if they were doing something to be proud of. No, what would've been brave was to stand up and either say you were and atheist or a satanist. As far as these Christians were concerned, they meant the same thing.

I stood up and said I was an atheist. A few threatened me, others suddenly had no respect for me, whereas before I had been held in the highest regard. They gave me dirty looks, talked very loudly about how people who didn't believe in god were going to hell. The scant few who didn't do this tried to convert me. They knew I was smart-- it was only some superficial reason that I didn't believe in it. I explained my dillemnia.

"What if someone you love is going to hell? I couldn't be happy in heaven knowing they were in hell. If god made it so that I was happy anyways, I couldn't stand to be so callous and inhuman. I don't want to forget them, as I love them dearly. So, the best answer here is to go to hell." While I had other reasons against believing in god, I never used them. Those other reasons were generally over my peer's head.

Originally, that dillemnia was the only reason I wasn't a Christian anymore. Yes, I did still believe in god. I just chose to go to hell. Perhaps that isn't the case anymore, but I still was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for my belief. My ultimate sacrifice trumped that of martyrs the world over. Whereas they would die and have eternal paradise, I would die and have eternal suffering, all because I thought it was the right thing to do. So if you want to talk about standing up for your beliefs, make sure you aren't just being a drama queen about it.