This is not a vent, no one in my family died, I'm not taking a break, my health is fine, I am not drowning in a pit of self-hatred, don't worry about me.
Why did I specify all that? Because what I'm about to say can be easily taken as "I'm an idiot with no self-esteem, life is pointless, I apologize for being such a dumb human being" when that's definitely not the case.

Alright, so… Recently I've been thinking and I've realized something:

I'M. NOT. SMART.

You guys are probably already typing your responses like "Ella, you're the smartest person I know, don't be like that" and while I love that you care about me enough to say that, we all know it's not true, and it's not entirely my fault.
As you guys are probably aware, I'm very, very Catholic. I'm also straight, and I'm basically a spoiled little brat when it comes to how wonderful my family is and all the amazing things they get for me. But due to all those things, I'm not very educated when it comes to certain subjects. For example, I'm not even supposed to know that homosexuality exists, my history book has done nothing but complain about how Protestants are bad for the past 6 chapters, and I'm not supposed to know about politics for another two years.
So obviously, I don't know much about

• genders, sexualities, whatever other things you guys have
• other religions
• politics
• a lot of other things I can't think of because I've never been informed of their existence

Why am I telling you all this and not just googling stuff? Because
1: I have no idea what to google
2: If my mom finds these things in my search history… I don't know how she'll react
3: Incognito tabs are pancaking sketchy

So basically what I'm trying to say is, you guys are my only source of education when it comes to the stuff I'm not supposed to know about in the first place, so if I ever say anything extremely stupid or offensive then, please just… Inform me how it's stupid? I don't know what I'm trying to say. I'm too tired to English. Just know that I don't mean to say anything bad and if I do then I'm very, truly sorry…

This entire post is a mess. You might as well ignore it, I just don't want people to think I'm a terrible person due to my lack of knowledge on anything other than "I'm Catholic". _{This is probably going to end up sounding extremely stupid I'm probably going to regret ever saying this I need to learn to keep my mouth shut when I'm tired Oh gosh I really hope this doesn't become offensive or start drama why am I such a terrible person Okay I'll leave now please don't hate me I really don't mean to be a jerk why am I even still typing this this whole rant is pointless and I'm probably overreacting I need to get some sleep I'll probably delete this by tomorrow}

Ugh, just ignore this. I'm overreacting to things and I need more sleep…

Not ignoring.

Give me a sec.

I'll answer without being positive with no reason.

Me too! I'm right here! And Ella! You always have a PM with me. So if need be, go on there and ask me or someone else whenever a question pops into your head.

There's a difference between stupidity and ignorance… You are feeling the effects of the latter. It's lack of education, and you know what? You're sitting here and admitting you don't know things. That's important. I didn't know these things at your age because my parents shielded me too. I know how that feels all too well. But the difference between younger me and you right now is that instead of repeating things you heard your parents say and insisting that they're true, you're looking to educate yourself more. That's super important, and people will respect you a lot more for that. As long as you seek to better yourself, apologize sincerely when you offend someone on accident, and strive to keep learning about other people, that's really all you can do when you live in an environment that often shields some important things about the world from you.

Oh! This is an easy answer! You are not dumb. You are ignorant. Not the same thing. Willful ignorance is a fault. But one you obviously do not have. See if you can talk to your parents about these things as the have the highest moral authority over you. If you can't do that, come to me. As you know I am also a very strict moral person.
Well… In theory anyways. _{Maybe not as well in real life.}

Heh. Tell you what! Ella, you're not stupid, in fact actually you are very smart, you're just uneducated, you're just sheltered, and it's not your fault at all. It's nothing you could help, and realizing it is one step closer to fixing it. I don't have the education of Bec, or the morality of Dom, but what I do have is intuition. So I'll help you learn about these things, and all of it. I'll help you realize these things along with the other two. So yeah. It's not your fault, you're plenty smart, and thank you for taking the Liberty to try and fix this. Thank you very much.

hey ella, I understand the feeling, and if you have any questions about like, sexuality or social issues, I can help. (possibly gender too, but being cis I dont want to pretend I know everything yanno?)

Ella, I'm just gonna reiterate what other people are saying. You. Are. Not. Stupid.
Ignorant and stupid are completely different. And the fact that you're admitting that you don't know things is a b i g deal. People living in ignorance who don't know that they're ignorant can be dangerous, but you have all of us to enlighten you on subjects. I understand how you feel and I'm kinda learning too, so we can learn together? Plus google can be really confusing since its a mass amount of people putting their opinions everywhere and it can be overwhelming. But knowing that you're ignorant is a great step in enlightening yourself.

And I'm going to further what people are saying by telling you that I live almost the same life, not exactly, different religion,but same concept. But I didn't know Homosexuality was a thing until I went to middle school, Even then what I did know It was all shown in a negative light, I live a very sheltered privileged life so I completely get where you're coming from, I'm lucky enough to have parents that have slowly lessened there helicopter parenting. That being said everything I know I've learned from Band members, this site, and older siblings. Even then I know precious little about stuff. I'm terrified that I'm going to graduate High school and find myself in a world that I don't recognize. So I completely get where you're coming from, I don't think we're stupid I just don't think we're educated in some subjects. What's important is acceptance, I've never scene you discriminate some one on this cite because you're uninformed and that's what matters the most.

Everyone's already said what I was going to say, and eah and every one of them is right. Lack of education =/= stupidity. For instance (and I apologize if this is a bit awkward): My mom is a doctor. More specifically, a pediatrician, which means she takes care of children. She has had so many patients, mostly girls, whose parents/guardians/whatever had not taught them about changes that would happen during puberty, whether they be physical, emotional, or both. Were those kids stupid? Absolutely not. They simply hadn't been taught the things they needed to learn. Who was the one at fault? Certainly not them. And neither are you, Ella. You're as smart as they come.

Dude that's completely fine! You're young, too! And you've been sheltered! It's hard to take offense from the things you say because I think a lot of us know that! What's important is that you're a really sweet and caring person, and it shows in this post. It's no fault on your part, and no one can really be mad at you for just genuinely not knowing things, that would be dumb on the angry person's half.

…You all are amazing

As are you, Ella-chan!

…You all are amazing

I agree with that statement. And be sure to take me up on my offer if it doesn't work out with your parents.