Christianity, we are told by its adherents, is a religion of love. And forgiveness. And understanding. A religion that prefers to turn the other cheek and to judge not. But the case of Jessica Ahlquist once more provides shocking evidence to the contrary.
A teenage student at Cranston High School West in Rhode Island, Ms Ahlquist inadvertently made herself the pin-up girl of secularists everywhere in 2012 following a successful lawsuit to remove a religious prayer banner from her school auditorium, thereby defending the United States Constitution which expressly separates church and state (those who are interested in this should take a look at the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment).
During the two years of the law suit, Ahlquist was subject to vile abuse in the media and online; received further hate mail in the post - including a number of rape and death threats - and required a police escort to and from her classes. To top it all off, on the day after Ahlquist won her ruling a Rhode Island State Representative, Peter G. Palumbo, described her on local radio as an "evil little thing".
Thankfully, she has continued to speak up as an atheist and a champion of civil liberties and has received a number of awards for her activism. Further, sales of a t-shirt produced by supporters with the words evil little thing printed on the front raised over $62,000 and this money was presented to Jessica in order to provide her with a college education fund.
In a sense, she's our Malala, standing up to religious fanatics and insisting on her right to an education that values freedom of thought over superstition and dogma. One can only hope that she needn't take a bullet to the head before her bravery is officially recognized not only in the Playboy Mansion, but in the White House too.
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