My Value of Free Expression Reflection

 In my life, free expression has not always been easy. I have lived a life of dissenting opinions. Steve Shiffrin's Theory of Protecting Dissent tells us, "The First Amendment protects minority views, no matter how unpopular. You have a strongly protected right to disagree with the government — and everyone else." This theory really has resonated with me in my life. I am a young man from Maryland, where I attended a public high school where I was a racial, spiritual, cultural, and especially political minority. 

I have always been interested in civics and the government. My first realization that my free expression was being attacked was in my 10th-grade AP Government class, where I was shamed and shunned by classmates for making a seemingly common-sense statement regarding how, during the Black Lives Matter movement, the idea of stores being raided was wrong and had lost sight of the ideals that the 1st Amendment protects. 

 The next major example of protecting dissent in my life was when I had to petition for my school to allow me to continue the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club.

FCA

I joined this club in my freshman year to grow the Christian faith through a shared connection to sport. My school tried to shut down the club, saying it "incited violence" and "went against the values of the school." I fought for my club and advocated against my school and the Board of Education, where I eventually won my case and grew the club to 100 members by the time I graduated as a senior. I fought for my beliefs, even though they were the dissenting opinion to the ideals of the school. 

As I moved on from high school and decided I wanted to attend a school 300 miles away, High Point University, I was excited to know I would be attending a school with the values of "God, Family, Country".

High Point University

These are values I hold near and dear to me, the same values I was shunned for having in Maryland. However, there are still things where I am the minority and dissenting opinion. 

I am a proud and devout Catholic man. High Point University is a Methodist institution. Though Catholic and Methodist are both denominations of the Christian faith, there are very large fundamental differences between the two. I have found myself in many scenarios where professors, peers, and staff judge me for my beliefs when I speak on topics such as Lent, Sacraments, and the identity of Faith. I am unwavering in my beliefs, but always willing to learn other perspectives. However, I have been attacked for just having a dissenting belief from the majority of the school. I never wavered or backed down when someone told me my beliefs were wrong; because of that I have protected my dissent.