Have you ever had an opinion or voiced your thoughts to a topic, text, idea, or event that was different compared to what others thought? We as human beings can use our abilities to be able to think for ourselves which is valuable to humans because it allows us to produce innovative ideas, see situations thoroughly and other things from different point of views, be able to conversate with one another, and so much more. There are many topics we could choose from, but two major ones today are religion and politics. These topics impact lives today in many ways all around the world. It could be in a good or bad way, although it does depend on the person as an individual and their mindset. They say, “There is two things you don’t talk about amongst others and that’s religion and politics.”
Indeed, there are many diverse types of religions and beliefs practiced around the world. There are currently over 4,000 religions in the world. Although the major religious groups within the world are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and more. In different religions they follow different practices, and they believe in different things such as who they worship or pray to, how they pray, different rules to follow, and more. People react differently to different religions besides their own and there are many varied reasons on why such as they do not agree with who they worship or what they believe in or the books they follow. Religious discriminations happen all around the world which it is when you treat a person unfavorably due to or her or his religious beliefs. Many people today suffer from discrimination today which this makes it harder for them to fit into society and feel welcomed. Although religions become a part of most and makes most who we are as human beings. This could be one of the reasons that influences how we react or view other religion besides our own. When you grow up in a household that practices and follows a religion it can make some people believe that this is how everyone should be, and that they should also follow the same so meeting someone else from a different religion can make you react differently to them due to their beliefs and what they follow. That is why many people choose not to speak about religion because it can be a touchy subject for some. Alan (2014) stated that, “In fact, in our survey, when we asked people what they do “when someone disagrees with you about religion,” just 10% of evangelicals say they “try to persuade the person to change their mind.” The vast majority of evangelical Protestants (70%) try to “understand the person’s beliefs and agree to disagree,” while about one-in-six (18%) say they “avoid discussing religion with the person” altogether.” (Cooperman, 2016, section 3). These results showed one religious groups point of view on things which showed that it all depends on the person, their mindset, and point of view on things. God gave us the ability to make our own decisions in life and to be able to think for ourselves. There are also books in the religions such as The Quran, The Bible, The Torah, and more. People that follow the religions read these books. These books are supposed to guide them in life. People who follow one religion might not agree upon someone who follows another religions book. It all comes back to our thought processes as a human being. Honestly, the generations are what developed people to have these views about other religions besides their own. Some families are strict about their religions and others are more easygoing. Even some events that occurred in history made people feel a prejudice way towards religions such as 9/11. After 9/11 some people started viewing all Muslims as terrorist and did not want to be around them because they saw them as dangerous.
Another major topic is politics. Recently the presidential election occurred, and this race had everyone on their feet. People were starting conflicts with one another due to different point of views about the elections and who they wanted to win. It can be challenging to talk to people who disagree with you politically because sometimes there is no way you can change their mind or get your point across. Animosity across the political and social groups occur which is when people disrespect or hate those who believe differently than them. Today this is one of the most pressing problems of our time. Politics are known to cause divisions between family members and friends, co-workers and colleagues, politicians, and the public. There are two politics groups which they are called Democratic and Republican. When you grow up in a house that is either Democratic or Republican some start to have the same political views on things. Although, politics are important because they form our future but sometimes it can get out of hand and create problems between many. Shannon (2019) stated that, “Put a diverse group of people in a room, the political scientists James Fishkin and Larry Diamond argue, and they’re likely to mute their harshest views and wrestle more deeply with rebuttals. They become more informed, even more empathetic.” (Doyne, 2019, section 1) Some people just do not care about other people’s political views and their feelings, but some do care. Although some do have negative attitudes towards the public officials than others tend to do. This attitude really determines how Americans participate, whom they vote for, and what political parties that they support. Many factors do contribute to American political attitudes and behavior such as religion, race, family, gender, ethnicity, and region. Honestly, it is the people who show so much pride, boastfulness, and more into politics that starts the conflicts with others. It is okay to believe what you believe in and support, but you should not overdue yourself. For example, making post towards people who support the other candidate is not right.
Precisely the reason so many people react differently to the same topic, text, idea, or event is all based on their vision of things and the way they think as an individual. Where they grow up is another factor because it teaches them the way of life. Some follow the morals and values they grew up with. Although others go the opposite way and think more outside of the box and think more for themselves. There are so many examples that could be given but these were the two main ones in society. We were given the right to believe in the things we want to believe in and support what we want to support. That is one thing that makes us different from one another.