Karen Pence Inspired an #ExposeChristianSchools Horror Story Hashtag
By Hemant Mehta, January 20, 2019

With Second Lady Karen Pence working at an anti-LGBTQ Christian school, it’s a good time to shine a spotlight on what students actually learn at these private schools. Sure, many of them never understand evolution and get a warped understanding of sex, but how bad can it really get?

The hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools, started by “Exvangelical” Christopher Stroop, offers a disturbing look at what many former students are saying.

Let's also discuss how a friend of mine who passed the entrance exams to a very good christian school in Lagos, was told to her and her mother's face that she wasn't granted acceptance because her mother was a single mother. "No broken families".
#ExposeChristianSchools
— TheGirlsLikeMe�⚡ (@DoreenGLM) January 19, 2019

I don’t know if I can properly address all the ways to #exposechristianschools. But here it goes. History classes never reviewed the American Indians’ cultures or the timeline of the Civil Rights Movemenet. Yay white-washed history. �
— Elizabeth Garcia (@dire_blizzard) January 19, 2019

#ExposeChristianSchools The bullying was intense, specifically for boys who weren't "manly". In the locker room, coaches would walk out when "soft" boys were getting towel-whipped in the shower or heads flushed in the commodes.
— Smellin’ Coffee (@smellin_coffee) January 19, 2019

Alright, #ExposeChristianSchools is trending, and I have FEELINGS. Mandatory marriage & family class, (hetero pairs only, obv). Boys drew occupations out of hats (wife wasn't allowed to work). Boys wrote the budgets. I got a C & all I did was name the kids (also mandatory).
— Brittney M. Morris *Add SLAY � on Goodreads* (@BrittneyMMorris) January 19, 2019

Had this same book given to me in 5th grade. so gross #ExposeChristianSchools
— crobi lover of mermaids (@Crobisaur) January 19, 2019

#ExposeChristianSchools
When Steve Irwin died my fourth grade Bible teacher told us he went to hell
— Christian (@csratcliff) January 19, 2019

When I promoted one of my students of color to the next grade, I was overridden because they wanted to “spread out” the children of color and there was already a POC in the class a grade above. They held my kid back and told his parents he didn’t pass. #ExposeChristianSchools
— k (@peasandkaris) January 19, 2019

In my biology class we weren’t allowed to say “tailbone” because of its evolution-based connotation. #ExposeChristianSchools
— Ryan Aniceto (@ryanganiceto) January 19, 2019

From grades 5-8, we read weekly fake newspapers called “Gods World News”, highlighting the atrocities the outside world was engaging in. This is how I first learned what the ACLU was. Every story mentioned them specifically and harped on how evil they were #ExposeChristianSchools
— Adrienne_ (@adrienne_) January 19, 2019

My Christian middle school praised the Birmingham, AL abortion clinic bombing in the late 1990's. (The school was in a suburb of Birmingham.) #ExposeChristianSchools #EmptyThePews
— The_Metamorphasis (@The_Metamorphs) January 19, 2019

My “sex education” teacher (the same under-qualified teacher who taught geography and biology) told us that sex creates an unbreakable blood bond, which is A) false and B) convinced me that I was forever bound to my abuser. #ExposeChristianSchools
— Melissa Stewart (@LissaStewartVB) January 19, 2019

When I told the principal of my Christian high school I wouldn't live at home anymore because I was being physically and sexually abused, he told me I was going to hell for disobedience to my family #ExposeChristianSchools
— Jessica F (@teacher2library) January 19, 2019

Catholic school health class, fifth grade (I was a year younger than everyone else), our principal told us that our dead loved ones could see everything we did from heaven, including sex and masturbation. #ExposeChristianSchools
— Sage Young (@sageyoungest) January 18, 2019

In elementary school we were taught that non-Christians were incapable of real love.#ExposeChristianSchools #ChristianAltFacts
— Chris the very original name (@rckymtnapostate) January 18, 2019

We were repeatedly told that going to a Christian school was a privilege. That if we went to public school, we'd become drug addicted pregnant athiests because the Liberal agenda was out to get the youth…#ExposeChristianSchools
— Skylar Christian (@SkylarEllenC) January 18, 2019

There are more than 20,000 tweets where those came from.

To be fair, some of them are positive. Some people are using the hashtag to share good experiences they had at these places… which is kind of shouting #NotAllChristianSchools. No one’s saying every school is like this, but the problem is pervasive enough that literally thousands of people have similar horror stories to share. People like Pence’s defenders should listen instead of interrupting. Maybe they’d finally learn something useful.