Belief?

We live in an age of contradiction.  However, take comfort in knowing that this does not set us apart from our ancestors.  Every age is an age of contradiction.  Every generation seeks peace, but finds war, desires food and plenty but finds starvation and poverty, seeks hope but finds gloom.  The question we put to ourselves everyday is why?  What for?  Where?  How?  I firmly assert that the answer to these questions are within us; a part of us.

When I walk into a Barnes and Noble or Borders book sellers I see books falling off the shelves.  Books on every subject.  The building simply bubbles with energy and excitement that each of these books create.  Despite this electric atmosphere, that feeling disappears the moment I step out of the door.  Why?  Why have we as a nation, as a culture, as a people, and as a race become so apathetic?  

Every United States Presidential election comes with promises of change.  Different taxes, laws, health care, etc.  I boldly put forth this concept:  That it is these promises that are creating this very sense of apathy.  In fact I would contend that it is not even a case of apathy that we suffer from, but rather a case of brainwashing.  Now, up until this point I hope you thought that this was going to be a sensical, serious work.  Do not let the term brainwash scare you though, I do not mean in a conspiratory sense.  For years now the people of this nation have allowed Presidents, Congressmen,  political machines, and lobbyists to tell us what to think.  They stand behind pulpits and proclaim to us what the issues are.  As time progresses for me, I have come to realize that their issues have never been my issues.  

Though historians argue that the founding fathers believed that only the higher class, educated should vote I cannot help but get a sense of complete liberty from the bill of rights.  The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the American Constitution, was developed on a belief that alone the Constitution gave too much power to the Federal Government, enabling it to commit the same sins that were rebelled against just a few years earlier.  These amendments guarantee our rights, that is our abilities and therefore our duties, to speak, believe, think, and do whatever we want.  Perfect, right?

There is one small point that is often overlooked in all of this.  That one point, that one term that is so key to everything the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are built on is that we are required to think of others before ourselves.  Yes, believe and say what you want, but do not impose on or strip away 

the rights of others.  That is a rather tall order, and contradictory to what we have been brought up to believe.  But that one concept of selflessness is bigger than anyone and is the most important of our rights and responsibilities.

The fact, then, that we must face is how to live up to that.  There is no book on this subject.  You will not find a course of action in a job, a lifestyle, or even a religion alone.  There must first come a belief.  When I use the term belief I am referring to a base sense of something.  I once asked a class of eight graders what they believed in.  I received answers from God to aliens to jello.  However, these answers were too vague.  I asked one or two of them to define what is it about God that you believe in?  What is it about aliens that gets you going?  What qualities does jello posses that triggers your reaction?  Each time I asked, I received nothing but a blank and silent stare.  

How can we pretend to have a sense of who we are and what we are about if we cannot even define what it is that we believe in?  Break it down for yourself right now.  What do you believe in?  Break it down to its most basic component.  For example, I believe in God.  I believe in God because of his complete sense of liberty.  Therefore I believe in liberty.  Now, that is not meant to simplify my relationship with God or my faith, but rather provide me with a sense of something I can stand up for.  Though someone may be able to argue the existence of God with me, they will never be able to argue the existence of liberty, because it is a fundamental sense that is within the human spirit.

Belief, then, provides the bedrock that the rest of our lives may be built on.  With a belief defined in our lives we are then at liberty to explore what that means to us and for us, both on an individual basis as well as on a grander scale.  What is to be done next though?  Next comes action.  Belief is listed in the dictionary as a noun, but it is most definitely a word of action.  You cannot believe in something without taking action on it.  If you are not compelled to move, shout, sprint, cry, laugh, or die over what you have decided you believe in, then you do not believe in it at all.  

Am I saying take a militant stance and purvey what you believe in to the rest of the world?  Certainly not!  That would be breaking that elementary concept behind the Bill of Rights, would it not?  Others must come before you.  Other’s beliefs?  No, but other’s right to believe.  Do not waste your time fighting against what others believe, but rather expend you energy wisely fighting for what you believe.  There is no greater fight.

It is this fight that will restore you confidence, for no one knows more about what and why you believe in what you believe in better than yourself.  It will also empower you to take control of what is rightfully, by law as well as by nature, yours.  Seize the day!  No longer are you under the oppression of the Republicans or the Democrats, you can vote for whom ever you want!  Never settle, this is our land, we are the government and though it may feel like we are powerless, that is a lie waiting to be exposed.  Though I would like to expose it for you, I cannot.  You must figure that out on your own.