To be a Christian is simply believing that Jesus is real and he died on the cross for humanities sins. According to Gen Z, being of religious faith is more targeted towards some negatives of society including: racism, homophobia etc. In the Bible Christianity talks about loving one another, however, now it means you're a raging republican. Let's talk about that!

Back to the basics, believing in God was simple. There were no catches upon it and such. However, as society shifts into social norms and expectations, the Christian religion is held so tightly to its stereotype. This stereotype being held around the 1800s, rich white male, slave owners who presumed themselves to be above everyone because they believed in God. Obviously, everyone who is Chrisian in 2022 is still holding the heartwarming title of “old, racist ass, white man” presumably. 

It's ironic, really. There is a massive amount of groups fighting for equality and non-descrimitive movements while judging and shaming one's religion. Christianity stands for loving one another, though that may not always be executed because people can be sh*tty, (forgive me Father)... there is a relatively good amount of people who execute what the Bible asks of Christians. In every community or group, there is always going to be someone who sets a bad expectation about said community. However, when it comes to this specific religion, the bad becomes the expectation.

Being a Christian originally meant having a simple belief, but as society shifts into a more judgmental, stereotypical based community, having a religious faith means much more than just “what do you think is real” but rather who do you vote for and how do you perceive those different than you. 

At some point politics were drifted into said religious community. It became the typical stereotype to be a racist republican who thinks like the old folks back in south carolina because of the one determining factor: being a Christian. As I can relate to people perceiving Christians as those characteristics because of the way I've been treated as a Christian myself. It becomes sort of a game, proving myself to be a decent person simply because im Christian. As I and many other Christians are questioned to explain ourselves, not out of curiosity or confusion, but rather a hateful judgment. I find myself explaining that I dont care about your sexual prefences or the color of your skin simply because I mention im Christian and the dread of disgust fades over their eyes as they dawn on my repelling news. There is nothing wrong with having political beliefs, but typically republicans are perceived to happen to be Christian who happen to have an undertone of racism, who happen to also be rich and who happen to need people to agree with their religious practices. That's not too bad, could be worse, just smile and nod. 

 It's absurd, but society incorrectly correlates Christianity with an endless list of netgive characteristics, possibly out of the influences in politics, actors, artists who happen to be Christian. Don't get me wrong, I love Christianity but they are giving us a bad rep. There are some undertones of these stereotypes which are reflected through those who have the most influence on society. As an example, President Trump, a Christian had undertones and straight sentences to say reflecting the homophobia, racism and sexism that people fear so much in Christians. People see a Christian influencer, who is negatively influencing the new generation to believe that is the purpose and meaning of a Christian. There is a role they play, but there needs to be a shift in focus. It isn't so simple to try to justify one's beliefs when most of society already has their mind made up about you. There isn't control over who happens to be the major influence that is also Christian in society. There needs to be more recognition, perhaps, of those minor Christian influences who are projecting love rather than the stereoptical hate.

So much fear is put into believing in Christianity. We aren’t Micheal Myers, what's the fuss all about? It shouldn't be a bad thing to have religious faith, but in the modern generation, being Christian isn't simply believing in God. It also means the probability that youre racist, sexist, homophobic etc is at an all time high. It's the effort to prove to a stubborn generation that it isn't bad, that we aren't bad people. So when someone asks “you’re Christian” the list goes on of our expected characteristics, left defenseless in a judgemental and unforgiving society. How lovely!