Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998
Religion must be a personal choice
Growing up, I slept late on Sundays. It was natural, my father grew up as a Jewish kid in Queens, and my sisters and I were never woken up early to get dressed and hear a sermon at one of the many local churches.
David Edelson (dre118@psu.edu) is a sophomore majoring in communications and a Collegian copy/wire editor.
My sisters and I had the unique experience of being able to experience
two different value systems at an early age. Because of the background
of our parents, we were given a lot of exposure to what the real
world is really like.
Both my parents have made tough decisions. The decision to spend
the rest of their lives together was one of them. To my father's
family, my mother was very different from the Jewish girl they
envisioned my dad would marry. In turn, my dad was not the Irish
lad my mother's family had pictured her with.
The strength of my parents was that they were the perfect people
to be exposed to when I developed my beliefs. Instead of hearing
about the myths and legends of religious figures who guide so
many people's lives, I had the opportunity to evolve my belief
system around real- life experiences and real-life figures like
my parents.
To me, religion is the value system that we base our decisions
on. It is the way in which we live our lives. We can either defy
that system and act out against its rules, or we can harmonize
with it and live in sync with our spirit.
The way I was raised forced me to draw off of personal experiences
in order to create a belief system. It is important for others
to do the same.
What I have noticed is that religious affiliation is a very distinguishing
characteristic in our global society. It allows people to "fit
in" with others based on what they supposedly believe. One
of the greatest outcomes of my childhood is that I was never able
to fit in with one group. My differing opinions on God and faith
always made me look harder at the people I associated with, and
made those people do the same with me. It made me stronger.
I have always marveled at the fact that discrimination emanates
from people because of inconsequential acts. Religiously important
events such as being confirmed, having a bar mitzvah when you
turned 13 or making a pilgrimage to Mecca, say nothing about the
character of the individual. Yet people continue to judge others
based on their beliefs.
Religion is an important part of our society, but what is more
important is the moral judgments people make. I have come to believe
that it is more important to live with an individual set of morals
and values than to judge people based theirs.
My parents have done everything to instill in me what is important
in life. Their lives provide a prime example of what the world
needs to do more. I have developed my set values and morals on
the simple ideal that we all need to love and respect each other.
I have come to love the fact that I am an individual. I have come
to love the fact that while my ideals may be similar to many people's,
they are ultimately mine because they were and still are being
formed by my own experiences.
Most of all, I respect others for believing what they do. I respect
the fact that they are different from me and it doesn't matter.
I was born with the obligation to question the world around me.
I was born with the obligation to find the answer to the question
"Why?" It is a question most people do not ask enough.
For me, the answers could not be found in any one book. They were
developed during years of searching for who I am, and they are
still not done being formed.
Life is a series of events we struggle to understand, but to believe
that all our values are laid out for us and unchanging is dangerous.
When you have nothing to do some time ask yourself "Why?" Maybe you will have the answer, maybe you won't, but finding the answer on your own will make those answers stronger, and make your beliefs your own.
