8th place — 2024 high school essay contest: Quinn Weidner

FFRF awarded Quinn $500.

By Quinn Weidner

At its core, religion was created in the hopes of establishing unification of the spiritual mind, thus promoting times of peace and cooperation — a rare asset in ancient times filled with constant battling and human blood loss. Stories of all-knowing beings reduced anxiety about the future and afterlife. However, what once was created for all-encompassing unity has only created devastating division. Mass genocide, social ostracization and modern warfare all have roots in debates over religious values using death as their argument’s closer.

Even in the United States, religion causes division in its “melting pot” culture that theoretically should allow religious freedom of choice. How can a religiously representative country have a total of 29 percent of nonreligious Americans and only be represented by 0.2 percent of the 118th Congress? This alone says enough about how our government is controlled by religion and does not abide by the principle of separation of church and state.

Seventy-four percent of American nonreligious voters are in support of the legal right to abortion and 81 percent are in support of same-sex marriage.

How can the Supreme Court overturn essential court cases such as Roe v. Wade? How can same-sex marriage be legalized by Obergefell v. Hodges, yet be questioned through various supplementary pleas to the court? The Nones’ viewpoints are cast aside because of humanity’s predisposition to ostracize those who do not conform to their religion or, often viewed as more extreme, have no religion at all.

Personally, I can attest to this. Growing up in the South, not feeling as though I believe in Christianity (or any religion) caused me to feel disparate from my peers. I questioned why I thought an ambiguous figure overwatching my actions was unbelievable. I felt confused when my peers talked of church, stories found in their scripture and allusions to biblical characters in books.

However, since those days of inner turmoil, I have observantly watched how religion can decay parental relationships with children, cause pressures in women being judged as “impure,” and watched friends battle with thoughts that, due to mental health issues, their faith wasn’t strong enough.

I’ve never used my religious values to judge others because I have no religion. What I once was afraid to admit, I am now proud to say: I have no religious affiliation. I will never “find God” nor will I ever feel ashamed for not being part of an institution I believe harms our unification as humans.

I am proud to be a part of the 29 percent of nonreligious Americans, to represent the 24 percent of registered young voting Americans, to be a part of the 74 percent in support of legal abortion rights and the 81 percent who believe in same-sex marriage.

I am excited to be at the forefront of change through voting and to use the positive attribute of nonreligion to encourage my fellow Americans to establish unification without the addition of the conforming spiritual mind.

Quinn, 18, is from Mooresville, N.C., and attends North Carolina State University, with plans to major in animal science.

“I was an A-honor roll student (4.0 GPA on a 4 scale), vice president of Science National Honor Society, a member of National Honor Society, a Mooresville High School Link Leader, and have taken eight Advanced Placement classes,” Quinn writes. “I have worked for the past nine months as an office assistant at Homesley & Wingo Law Group, helping the lawyers with discoveries, contacting clients and running errands to the courthouse.”