This I Believe

Below is my version of a "This I Believe" essay that I wrote for my Composition class. 

This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Some 100,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books, and featured in weekly pod-casts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow. (http://thisibelieve.org/)

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This I Believe

            I remember going to church as a kid and hearing the Preacher shout about “Hell and Damnation” to all those that didn’t follow the word of God; that God only protected his own flock and that all others should bow down to Him or face His wrath. And by God, the Preacher meant the Christian version of God, the one presented in The Bible and found throughout most of the major Western religions. I admit, I was terrified and willingly went along with what I was told out of fear that I would find my soul charred and burning in some fiery pit for all of eternity if I didn’t. I didn’t question; I didn’t think. I truly was like a single, fearful sheep in a massive flock, following everyone around me without question because I couldn’t think for myself and was told that it was wrong to want to.

            I was a senior in high school when a nation news story grabbed not only my attention, but the attention of the entire Nation. Mathew Shepard, a young man from Wyoming who also happened to be gay, was savagely beaten and tortured; tied to a fencepost and left to die by two men who claimed to be “driven to panic” by flirtations from Shepard. During the course of the trial, there were many views expressed in the various media outlets; rage, fear, heartache, confusion…and cold indifference.

There were many who called for major reform to our laws; demanding justice for Mathew and others by enacting tougher hate crime legislation. There were also those, mainly highly conservative and controversial “religious” organizations, that believed Mathew’s death was a righteous act and that not only would Mathew be burning in Hell for his sins, but also any of those that supported the gay community. Those groups viewed Mathew’s murders as heroes – doing the work of God himself. They even went so far as to protest at Mathew’s funeral, waving around signs full of hate filled words while his family and friends cried and mourned his loss.

It was then that I decided to believe that the world was not at the mercy of some unseen, judgmental man sitting in the heavens and that every person in the world had value regardless of what they believed in. I couldn’t fathom that any God or Higher Power would foster and nurture such hate and intolerance. My newly found belief was reinforced when I saw people from all walks of life and religions coming together to speak out against such hatred. It was then that I began to believe in people: people of all colors, religions, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, financial statuses and political beliefs. And so, this I believe – I believe in the strength, the beauty and the power of people.

I began to believe that people are all basically good and have an ingrained moral compass that guides them to do right by others. We are not mindless creatures that can only find self worth and redemption in the forgiveness of God. People are people and that fact alone is what brings us together in times of need and hardship. We look past those things that separate us: religion, class, color and culture. We come together as one unified group: human beings. It is the power held within each person - the undying spirit of the human mind - that drives our cultures and societies forward as well as brings comfort and structure in day to day life.

This does not mean that people are above reproach. People screw up, make mistakes and do the wrong thing even when they know they shouldn’t. People can hurt each other deeply and do things that test our faith in Mankind. But that doesn’t mean that the people that make those mistakes are useless and not worthy of regaining respect. People are flawed and it is in those flaws where we find our greatest strengths.

I remember the months following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Many say it was some of our darkest times as a nation and while I understand their point of view and even agree with them to some degree, I also think it was some of our strongest and brightest moments as well. People from throughout the world came together to mourn the tragic loss of life and to condemn those that orchestrated the attacks. People also came together to celebrate each other – to celebrate life. We celebrated the individual lives of those that we had lost. We told their stories. We related to them. We were each of them; we cried with them and laughed with them and hoped with them. We became one in those moments; putting aside our nationalities, religions and ways of life.

There was also forgiveness. That is what puts me in awe of us as humans. We can forgive those that deeply wound us. We suffer and though we will bear the scars for a lifetime and never forget, we can forgive our fellow man. The depth of understanding and appreciation for each other that it takes to do that is not something that can be taught. It is something that everyone has in their core. It is not something that is divinely given or sought out. We somehow think we need to seek out that forgiveness or the ability to forgive from a higher power, but it is a human characteristic that we all have within us.

As humans, we can rise above organized religions and ancient myths and begin to value each other over everything else. We can begin to celebrate and support human life in all forms rather than pouring money into churches that will alienate people for being different. We can begin to support individuals and the abilities of those individuals to achieve success on their own terms. We can value ALL people, regardless of how different they might be. As a particular Doctor once said “A person’s a person, no matter how small!”