I believe by: Alyssa Chin

I believe in people being able to freely worship and follow any religion their heart leads them to. Everyone should be able to go to worship at a place whether it's a church of Catholics, Mormans, or if they’re synagogues and mosques. People shouldn’t be looked at differently or judged just because their religion might not be the same as yours or might have ways that you don’t agree with. No one should be put down or thought down upon because of what religion they believe in.
In the world, there are many religions people believe and live by. For example: I am a Christian who believes strongly in the ways and beliefs of the Christianity religion. Even if I believe and am committed to this religion, that doesn’t mean that I totally disregard anyone else of their religions. I wouldn’t ignore someone or look at them funny because they have a hijab on their head and believes in the Muslim religion. I remember a story my friend, who’s a Christian, and told me about how once at her church the term “gay” came up. The people were asking : “what would you do if you knew someone who were gay?” She said that many talked about how they would bring them to church and tell them it wasn’t right to do this, whereas her parents said that they would just accept this because, it would be disrespectful and hurtful to the person who is gay, since it’s what they believe. To this, the other church members were shocked and thought it was so wrong to just let that person go on “sinning.” This is one of the reasons why my friend and her family moved to another Christian church, where they were just like them. As you can see from this story, many people neglect and look down upon and think that they should change everyone that doesn’t believe the same beliefs as them. But this isn’t how it should be.
We should respect and treat people the same exact way we treat others no matter what religion they believe in. We shouldn’t judge them based on their religion, but on the important things like the personality and characteristics of the person. So why should people wonder why others don't have the same beliefs as them and try to change them to what they think is the correct religion? I mean I understand that people want everyone to join their religion and believe the same things as them, but they have to understand that you can’t attack someone/judge/think less of them just because that person(s) doesn’t think the same way. What has our world come to, where people give evil stares and talk behind people’s backs, just because they’re gay or bisexual or even a lesbian. Even if someone may not believe that this is right because they really feel that marriage and a relationship should between a man and a woman, they should nonetheless respect them and treat them the same as they would treat someone who was straight, because its what the person thinks is right and what they believe in.
I believe people should be able to trust in any religion they please, without getting judged, looked down upon or treated unfairly. This is America, where we have the freedom to believe and worship in any religion we want, which is one reason why we should treat everyone the same whether they’re Christian or Muslim. We should give respect to all people of every religion and have an open mind of their beliefs and thoughts. So next time you see someone getting looked down upon or judged in some way concerning their religion, stand up for them and remind the people treating them that way, to respect and treat everyone fairly no matter what religion they believe in.