What you're going through is a rite of passage into adulthood. I know it's heartbreaking to come to the conclusion that some of the things you've known and understood as "the way it is" in your 20 years have become offensive to you. That's what happens as you reach the point where you can think critically about the world you live in, form your own opinions about it and, most importantly, try to do something about the things you dislike. This isn't about just politics and religion, either. It's about everything in life.
As someone studying journalism, you're training for a career that can take you as close by as Oklahoma City or as far away as some flyspeck of an island you didn't know existed until you were sent there. You have a golden opportunity to gather lots of perspective, and how far you go is up to you. Perspective is a wonderful thing. You don't have to accept everything you encounter as right, but it helps to know that people think differently than you do and, more importantly, why they think that way.
I don't share your chosen profession, but in the 20 years since I graduated from college, my work has taken me all over the U.S. and the world. Let me tell you, there's nothing as eye-opening as being on that flyspeck of an island, sitting over a lunch of the favorite local delicacy, reading the English edition of the local paper and understanding how people there see the rest of the world. A close second on the eye-opener list is realizing that as an American, your country has cultural and political reach around the world like no other.
As for your own situation, I don't see Oklahoma changing. People who find themselves on the "wrong" side of the prevailing local political or religious fundamentalism are going to depart for greener pastures, and each departure leaves the pool of die-hards just slightly more in the majority than they were before. Eventually, the moderate conservatives start looking like wild-eyed radicals to the die-hards, and the problem gets progressively worse. (Sorry, no pun intended.) There's nothing that says you have to stay someplace where you're uncomfortable when you have the option of leaving. Life is too short to be miserable.
Posted on November 30 at 4:50 p.m.Suggest removal
What you're going through is a rite of passage into adulthood. I know it's heartbreaking to come to the conclusion that some of the things you've known and understood as "the way it is" in your 20 years have become offensive to you. That's what happens as you reach the point where you can think critically about the world you live in, form your own opinions about it and, most importantly, try to do something about the things you dislike. This isn't about just politics and religion, either. It's about everything in life.
As someone studying journalism, you're training for a career that can take you as close by as Oklahoma City or as far away as some flyspeck of an island you didn't know existed until you were sent there. You have a golden opportunity to gather lots of perspective, and how far you go is up to you. Perspective is a wonderful thing. You don't have to accept everything you encounter as right, but it helps to know that people think differently than you do and, more importantly, why they think that way.
I don't share your chosen profession, but in the 20 years since I graduated from college, my work has taken me all over the U.S. and the world. Let me tell you, there's nothing as eye-opening as being on that flyspeck of an island, sitting over a lunch of the favorite local delicacy, reading the English edition of the local paper and understanding how people there see the rest of the world. A close second on the eye-opener list is realizing that as an American, your country has cultural and political reach around the world like no other.
As for your own situation, I don't see Oklahoma changing. People who find themselves on the "wrong" side of the prevailing local political or religious fundamentalism are going to depart for greener pastures, and each departure leaves the pool of die-hards just slightly more in the majority than they were before. Eventually, the moderate conservatives start looking like wild-eyed radicals to the die-hards, and the problem gets progressively worse. (Sorry, no pun intended.) There's nothing that says you have to stay someplace where you're uncomfortable when you have the option of leaving. Life is too short to be miserable.
Best of luck to you.
On