Insecure belief systems engenders war
Kathryn Yslas
Mesa Legend
What do teenagers, religious extremists and Kim Davis all have in common? No, it’s not a misguided sense of importance. It’s not because they think they know everything, and it’s not because they all have blind faith in some higher power (in the teenager’s case, Nicki Minaj). So what do all of them have in common? Insecurity. It seems that when we possess a particular worldview or have some sort of zealous belief, we feel the need to impose it on others, regardless of what they themselves may believe. We are right and they are wrong, simple as that. Therefore, it becomes our responsibility to “enlighten” those around us, often by force. This brutish impulse to hinder and oppress all those who disagree ultimately stems from fear, the fear that the convictions of another somehow weaken our own.
Instead of simply allowing people to have beliefs that differ from our own, we become holy knights off on crusade. We take to our keyboards or switch on our cameras to tell Facebook or YouTube why we are exactly right. In the case of Kim Davis, in order to ensure her own Christian faith remained intact, she felt the need to deny marriage licenses to same sex and straight couples in Rowan County, Kentucky. In her mind, as well as many of the other feeble minds similar to her own, the Supreme Court’s ruling of marriage equality somehow threatens their faith and it is their responsibility to ensure their religious freedom by refusing people their rights.
By stopping people from acquiring marriage, Kim Davis stated that allowing same sex couples to marry in Rowan County somehow her affected her religious beliefs. This is of course, entirely ridiculous, but I believe there is a solution. Perhaps if Kim Davis had been more secure in her own faith, she would not have had to strip anyone of his or her right to marriage equality. If only she and others like her were simply able to live by their own convictions, rather than abusing their power to force their beliefs on others. If we all intrinsically cultivated our own morality from reason and compassion rather than ignorance and fear, the world would be better. There would be little need for Opinions pages and the south would be a whole lot more fun.
