Love Your Neighbor

The most perfect words ever uttered were, “love your neighbor as yourself.” This is, of course, taken from the Bible and is spoken by Jesus. Whether you are a religious person or not does not really matter because these words are not just for a certain religion, but for all of humanity. It is this idea of treating others with dignity and respect that I firmly believe.

Often, I hear or read things that make my skin crawl. I am not referring to Stephen King novels, but instead, I am referring to things I hear at school and read on various social networking sites. Close-mindedness runs amok. Prejudice pervades every syllable. Ignorance dances across the lips of many with as much carelessness as the wind. While all of this ensues, the worst of all of them takes place. Silence. For it is the bystanders who cause the most damage because they see something wrong, but choose to not speak out for what is right. This is where the problem herein lies. If we allow ignorance to conquer, we are just as bad as those who are spreading it which is why I believe our job is to spread kindness in every way.

Why does one feel the need to put his or her neighbor down? Why does color have to serve as a label for a person? Why do intellectual people have to be made fun of for being intelligent? Why do people who are not as academically talented have to be looked down upon by those with higher grades? Why do those with special needs have to be regarded as “retarded”? Why do all love-based religions profess hatred towards one another? Why are looks more important than a person’s character? Why are people who have terrible home lives have to be regarded as “troubled”? Why is being homosexual regarded as an “abomination”? Why is apathy commonly chosen over empathy? Why is it controversial to be tolerant and accepting? Why do people feel that achieving world peace is an unattainable goal?

I do not know the answers to any of these questions, but I do know that the things being questioned do occur which infuriates me beyond belief. People are people and despite what different beliefs we may have, people always deserve to be treated with respect. We are meant to love one another and be kind to one another. If we all took the time to place ourselves in someone else’s shoes, then maybe this belief of mine would become real. I believe that peace and love are things worth championing for because they are truly what we need. I have been a victim of bullying and have been harassed for simply being myself. I believe no one should have to experience that. I believe, one day, no one will. I believe we are meant to love our neighbor as ourself because, after all, as Dr. Seuss once wrote, “a person’s a person no matter how small.”