This article originally appeared on Jessica’s blog. More information on the prayer can be found here.

Hey everyone! This blog has been in the works for quite a while now, and it’s finally done! I apologize for the delay, but I’ve been incredibly busy with school and other craziness. I have been mulling over what my first post should be about, and I’ve decided that I should give you all a little history on the whole issue.

I became an atheist at a very young age. Although I was born into and baptized through the Catholic Church, I was encouraged to think for myself and form my own opinions. I have my sensitivity and obsession with fairness to thank for my disbelief. For me, religion does more bad than good and it certainly does not reflect the morals of equality which I live by. However, I was in the closet about my atheism until I reached middle school.

Growing up, I assumed that everyone thought this way. I assumed that all people wanted what was best for everyone and could accept those who were different than themselves. I remember learning about slavery and the holocaust, wondering how these things could have truly happened. I would sit in the back of the class sobbing, which my classmates had a field day with.

I was naïve. I was under the impression that people instinctively knew right from wrong. Well, I was seriously mistaken.

I was a freshman when I first found out about the prayer. Towards the end of the year, a dear friend of mine noticed it painted on the wall of our auditorium and immediately told me about it. As atheists, we pondered the “School Prayer” and questioned its Constitutionality. It didn’t take us long to come to the conclusion that this was obviously a violation.

As we discussed what we were going to do about this, school let out and summer break began. During our vacation, it came up in the news that a brave parent had filed a complaint to the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU after seeing the prayer at a function held in the auditorium. When I read about this, I wanted to show my support for the prayer’s removal. I eventually did just that by creating a Facebook group entitled “Support the Removal of the Cranston High School West Prayer.” For the first few months, there were less than twenty members in the group. It wasn’t until the first sub-committee meeting in November that I was able to share my opinion.

At this point, I was still thinking that the committee would just say “Oops, sorry. We didn’t realize that was there, we’ll take it right down!” I now laugh when I think about how absolutely wrong I was.

At the first meeting, I spoke in front of the sub-committee and about ten or fifteen residents. I presented myself as an atheist, aware that the word was taboo, but unaware of just how much. When I said this, I heard a small gasp along with a bit of whispering. As I sat down after speaking, one of the accepting, non-judgmental Christians in the room mumbled “that little witch!” under her breath.

That night, a local news channel wanted to interview me. I agreed, and presented my beliefs on television. There were also several newspapers that covered the story that night. From that point on, I was considered the “face” of this issue.

There were several other meetings held to “discuss” the issue. At each meeting, the crowd grew and grew. Unfortunately, it was the other side gaining numbers. They printed the words “KEEP ORIGINAL BANNER” on blue paper and used string to wear them as signs around their necks. They showed up in mobs, ready with hate-filled speeches about how their religious freedom was being violated. They said that if I didn’t like their “Christian nation”, I should just leave. In fact, at several meetings I was personally attacked and accused due to my beliefs and position.

Without a legal leg to stand on, they used every excuse in the book. I was completely dumbfounded by some of the arguments they made in favor of the prayer. They claimed from the beginning that the prayer did not violate anyone’s rights or discriminate in any way. They argued that it was “student artwork”, as it was written by a child when the school first opened. They even tried to say at one point that the “School Prayer”, was not a prayer.

And of course, they stampede into these meetings with the attitude that they are superior, God loves them, and that they can do whatever the hell they want simply because God said so. They march in huge numbers to intimidate the minority and force them back into the closet. “If you don’t like it, too bad, we get to do what we want!” That, boys and girls, is what you call a bully. Bullying is unacceptable.

After hours and hours of pointless meetings and discussion, the school board voted 4-3 to keep the prayer and fight the ACLU in court. I received an email from the ACLU asking if I would like to sign on to the lawsuit as a plaintiff in the case against the city, and I agreed.

Since the press release on April 4, things have continued to get even crazier.

The morning after the press release, I walked into homeroom. The first thing I was greeted by were my classmates gossiping about how “mad retarded” I am for doing this. These students mind you, do not speak to me. Here they are passing judgment on me and what I believe without having talked to me for even a second. As I sat down, I said “good morning” to a couple of my peers who did not return the friendly gesture or even acknowledge my existence. During the pledge that morning, the students in my homeroom turned and yelled “Under GOD!” at me. The teacher said and did nothing.

Several weeks ago, we had “diversity week” at my school. During this annual event students at the school come together to speak on issues regarding racial and cultural differences, bullying, respect, LGBTQ, etc. The entire week is full of assemblies that teachers can choose to have their classes attend. One morning in chemistry class, we went down to the auditorium (so yes, I was required to be in there) to see our Mayor Fung speak about his life as a Chinese-American minority. At the end, he took questions. One student asked how he felt about the prayer banner which was clearly painted on the wall right beside us. He pointed to it and passionately said “I would like to see that prayer stay exactly where it is!” The applause he received for this would probably be comparable to that of the applause for the cure of cancer. I was the only student that I could see that remained seated, not cheering or applauding for disregarding the Constitution and the rights of minorities. I’m sure Mayor Fung feels quite confident about the next election now.

Now, of course the intimidation and hate do bother me sometimes. However, the love and support have more than compensated for such intolerance. The religious crowd in favor of keeping the prayer is trying to scare me into backing down. What they don’t realize is that the harder they try to make me feel hated, the more confidence and determination I have. The more they fight for the apparent God-given right to violate The Constitution, the more important it becomes that I defend our rights and speak out against this unacceptable discrimination.

And it’s paying off.

After talking with Harrison Hopkins, a high school senior in South Carolina, he decided to bravely fight the illegal graduation prayer which was to be said at his ceremony this June. Through the FFRF, he was able to heroically stop this prayer from being endorsed by the school. Will the ever so classy students of Laurens District High School pray anyway just to make him fee

l hated and inferior? Of course. He’s currently facing horrid amounts of backlash from his school and community simply for defending his rights. Even still, his convictions are unwavering as he refuses to back down, despite what the majority think they are entitled to do.

Another story that surfaced just this week is Damon Fowler’s fight against the graduation prayer at his public high school in Louisiana. I cannot even begin to describe the kinds of hateful nonsense that has taken place because of this. After his parents disowned him, he attended his graduation in which the students prayed despite this brave stand against inequality. It wasn’t until after Damon and I started talking that he realized he was already familiar with my story. In fact, I am absolutely flattered to be what he has called his “inspiration” for fighting this:

Watching YouTube videos Saturday, I came across a video of a girl who stood up for the separation of church and state. I didn’t realize until now, but I’ve been talking to her since all of this started… Thank you, Jessica Ahlquist for inspiring me to make a difference, and thank you for the support. 🙂

And maybe I’ve lost it, but this actually brought me to tears. In the beginning of all this chaos, I never would have guessed that my actions could result in something so huge. For me, this was always something that I just had to do. While I am completely horrified and disgusted by the hate which they are facing, I am overjoyed that they have decided to fight for their rights as well. I am honored to call these two brave heroes my new friends.

We may be young, but we do have voices. As students, atheists, and Americans, we must defend our rights. This country and all of the beautiful liberties it has were not given to us by God. They were fought for relentlessly by heroes who understood equality and the need for a wall between church and state.

I speak on behalf of the three of us when I encourage other atheists to come out of the closet and stick up for our equality. They cannot repress us unless we allow them to.

And I apologize for being incredibly cheesy and emotional, I have been up all night and I am in love with this movement.