the courage to change
I overheard (and then butted into) a conversation the other night at a church event with some friends. They were talking about a man in South Africa who was explaining to my one friend why blacks were naturally inferior. She was astounded that someone could believe such a thing in this day and age, but realized that's how he'd been raised and taught, so it was what he really believed. He had a litany of reasoning to support his claim, not realizing how much of it was unfounded in reality. It didn't matter if it was true, it was all he knew. How much of what we believe do we only believe because it's what we were raised with? Our parents teach us something, the lesson is reinforced by other important figures in our lives, and we accept it as solid truth with no margin of error. It's simply how the world is. We build our lives on this foundation, and when it is challenged, we have no doubts that we are right, and we continue blithely believing. ...