Throughout life, we are confronted with the problem of faith all the time. From school clubs on campus, to family preachings, trying to find a religion as a teenager is hard work. One can find almost any religion in high school: atheist, diagnostic, Christianity, Judaism, or maybe some are undecided. But why does someones religious views matter? Everyone is connected on a level deeper than religion, but different religious people tend to make themselves seem superior.
Some different religions at high school include Christianity, Agnostic, Atheist, and Judaism. I interviewed someone of each religion asking the same question, how do you feel about othere religions and converting people. When interviewing Kerri Grove who is Jewish, she said, “...It’s rude and selfish.” When Darby Ronan was asked, she replied, “if you are content with your religion, then don’t go around trying to convert people. Atheist, Natalie LoDuca said, "People are free to do whatever they want.” She also added, “know that you don’t always [need] a higher power. Find some strength within yourself.” When someone of the Christian faith was interviewed, who asked to be anonymous, she said, “ I should try to convert people, but I don’t.” But why should someone try to convert someone else? It might not be necessary to have a religion. Also, why should one try to convert another? If one wants to join a religion, then they will. There’s no need to go into cases of extremism.
Many cases of extremism happen throughout the world every day. One occurrence happened in Alabama when a new governor was elected named Robert Bentley. In his acceptance speech, he stated that, “anybody who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you that you’re not my brothere and you’re not my sister...” Why would he need to say that? We are all human in the end anyway. He was being elected the Governor of Alabama, and when someone is elected into a seat of power, they must choose their words wisely. This, is a terrible example of a wise choice of words.
In “Are you theree God? It’s me Margaret,” by Judy Blume, a twelve year old girl named Margaret is trying to decide whethere she is Christian like her mom, or Jewish like her dad. She talks to her friends and goes to church and temple, but she can’t decide which religion she can relate to the most. In the end, Margaret realizes that she does not need a religion. She realizes that all she needs is what she believes and that is all that matters. Margaret was okay with making up her own religion, even her parents were okay with that.
Parents play a large role in choosing a religion. If someone is raised with a certain religion, it is most likely because their parents chose that religion. Or maybe their grandparents, or many generations before that chose it. Eithere way, it was not the person’s choice. Each person should have a chance to view each religion equally without a biased opinion on one or the othere. It is being raised with this religion that someone is biased or prejudiced against othere religions. Only if someone takes the time to learn about othere religions, can they understand what othere religions believe.
So why does what our religion is, really matter? In my opinion, everyone is equal, no matter how we were raised or what we choose to believe. Everyone from a criminal to a college professor all have one thing in common: we are all human and no matter how we got here, we are all on Earth, and alive. So make the best of it. There’s no need to fight or cause havoc because someone thinks differently. If we all thought the same, life would be too boring.