I always grew up in a family that was very religiously accepting. Sure, we went to church, but a church that taught us about other religion, and encouraged us to blaze our own path, but also the respect the opinions of others. To tell the truth, I never realized how lucky I was. To my nine year old mind, surely every family was like this, no matter their religion, background, or race. So, it came as a shock to me when this illusion was blown open. I was nine years old, in fourth grade, and little did I know when I came back from gym class, how I would remember the next few moments, and be haunted by them for years to come.

I was one of the first people back to class, always a plus, because I was able to talk with my classmates, and get my things all out for the next lesson. As I stepped in, a few of the popular kids were already there, chatting away about random things, things which I can’t remember, but were perfectly ordinary and safe topics. Then, I felt an urge to join in, to connect to them, to get their attention. Maybe, if I could do this, I could be like them.

So, when the conversation finally paused, and my classmates had sat down, and I said nonchalantly, “I don’t believe in God”. I thought that this was a perfectly reasonably conversation starter, what with my family’s acceptance of my beliefs. What I failed to comprehend, was that people have fought wars, argued, and forever parted with family on account of religion. When I contemplate that day, I wonder if it was the innocence of a child, or having lived my life in a bubble which contributed to this belief. Either way, as you can probably tell, the reaction was hardly what I expected.

“Then you’re going to hell”, the popular boy said. In those five words, I was crushed, smashed like a bug. Even I knew the basics of hell. Hell was where bad people went, and were eternally punished. I wasn’t a bad person, was I. I smiled at everyone I met, I was kind, I was honest, except when it when hurt someone else’s feelings. Sure, I’d made mistakes, even one instance where people were hurt because of my selfishness, but surely the fact that I wasn’t religious couldn’t qualify me as a bad person.

After that, school passed by, subject by subject, and there was no more talk of religion or hell. However, when I went home, I couldn’t stop thinking of the way that the boy whom I had known since Kindergarten had told me, his tone even, not even a single doubt in his mind. That was why, when I got home, and my mom asked me how my day had gone, I asked her the question burning up my mind.

“Mom, am I going to go to Hell?” As I said this, I started crying, hiccuping every so often as my mom hugged me against her legs. That was when she told me, that no, it didn’t mean that I was a bad person. No, I wouldn’t go to Hell for not believing in God, and that it was that popular boy who was wrong. She explained to me, that even as an adult, she had had people say the same thing to her. She told me that while people may always say that awful phrase to me, that didn’t make them right, that I could rise above, that no matter what, at my core, I was a good person.

From that moment on, I have never doubted my own feelings. No matter what people have said, to this day, I am a proud atheist, fascinated by studying religions, and maybe a little too obsessed with books, but I am me. Now when I look back, I look in pity at that boy. It wasn’t his fault that he was taught to say that sentence whenever someone said those words that I did. Now I see that the problem lies beyond that boy, that school, that city. Religious intolerance is a worldwide problem, one that goes back centuries, back to the Crusades, Rome, and more recently, the Holocaust. The generations before us have all struggled with this problem, some contributing to the problem, some attempting to fix it. Now is our turn. How can we hope to achieve a measure of international peace if we cannot first learn to respect the opinions and beliefs of others? Now is our turn to reach out, and take the hands of all the other 7.6 billion people on this wonderful planet. I don’t ask for much. You don’t need to go and hug the first person you meet. Imagine a recipe. Add yourself, someone else, and a touch of kindness. Mix. Maybe you just smile at your bus driver, or say hello to the girl around the corner who you’ve never spoken to. Everyone, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Agnostics, Atheists, and others, have an affinity for greatness. Who knows what we can do if we all work together towards a common cause?