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Essays About Personal Beliefs

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Challenging a Life Belief/idea

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Right Choices: The Bridge to Success 

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The Role of Compassion in My Life

Complacency - the cancer of our society, integrity and what it means to me, the impact of beliefs on decision-making regarding the reception of medical help, change is crucial to improve ourselves, love and what it means to me, what is excellence to me, analysis of my political ideology, the five principles of social impact, how let our dreams come true, the fear of being judged in my life, money can't buy happiness and satisfaction, defining my identity and its components, the things i am grateful for in my life, my personal view on religion, the perspectives of my personal philosophy, the reasons why i am against death penalty, effects of defining god as the unknown, discussion of the question 'who am i', importance of college for me, relevant topics.

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223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples

Looking for belief essay ideas? Being a subject of numerous philosophical debates, the concept of belief is worth exploring.

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⭐ personal belief essay topics, 💡 most interesting belief topics to write about, 📑 simple & easy belief essay titles, 📌 top belief topics to write about, 👍 exciting belief essay ideas, ❓ belief system research questions.

In your belief essay, you might want to focus of various philosophical approaches to the concept. Another idea is to compare religious and secular belief systems. One more option is to talk about your strongest personal beliefs and practices. Whether you have to write a high-school or a college assignment, our article will be helpful. Here you’ll find everything you might need to write a belief essay. Best personal belief essay topics and examples written by A+ students are collected below.

• “Confessions of Faith” Written by Cecil Rhodes In particular, the author argues that the citizens of the British Empire have a right to rule different regions of the world.
• Omnism: Belief in All Religions The practice of omnism has been in here for a while, but the definition of the term is quite young. In Japan, an omnism religion is called Kokyo was formed in the 1800s, and the […]
• Cultural Belief System: Experiences and Traditions In most communities, the belief systems form the basis for validity of governance systems in the community as well as the acceptable laws governing behavior in the society.
• The Faith Concept and Types The concept of faith, types of faith and the criticism of faith are the key areas explored in this paper. The most common type of faith in the world is the religious faith.
• The Importance of Perseverance and Self-Belief Of course, I was fluent in Spanish, which was my native language, but I faced a problem in the USA – I needed to learn English to feel comfortable and free.
• Ecologies of Faith in the Digital Age and Surviving and Thriving in Seminary Therefore, based on this powerful technique, I believe that embracing the concept of spiritual growth through the use of the online platform will enable me to learn from the online community as well as to […]
• The Circle of Life: Belief of Native Americans He shows the weakest and frailest infants being at the base of the hill while the oldest were on the top.
• “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” by Gettier In addition, the article reveals that the concepts of ‘the right to be sure that’ and ‘has adequate evidence for’ only work if the element of ‘justified true belief’ is not introduced in an analysis.
• Relationship Between Psychology and Christian Faith Truly, I have realized that sincerity is found in Jesus discipleship and the study of persona, but the varying aspects guiding the honesty are the belief in Christ and analytical thinking.
• Critique of Health-Belief Model by R. Davidhizar The primary objective of concept analysis is to examine the main idea critically to identify the themes of the design. The concept of health-related behavior is used in the field of breast cancer to enlighten […]
• Faith and Materialism in Matthew 6:24-30 Due to simplicity, readers do not have to refer or infer to the original text in Greek or to the bible dictionary to get the meaning of the complex words in the text.
• Adam’s Apples: Testing of Faith Adam, on the other hand, is skeptical and eager to confront the vicar, seeking to prove that Ivan’s miserable life is a sign of God’s hatred.
• Change in Belief System Their life experiences, friends, and exposure to reality are some of the factors that contribute to such shifts in belief and attitude towards diverse occurrences in life.
• Without Faith, There Can Be No True Virtue? It relates to the author of integrity and the dishonest virtue that occurs where there is no faith in God even if the qualities of an individual are the best.
• Ethics and Faith in the Movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” In this motion picture, he seems to support the defeat of the religious as seen through the death of the most religious person in the story – Ben.
• Faith and the Future: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Jews can gloat and say that they are the chosen people but this is not a wise decision to make because they will be threatened on all side and in fact since two thousand years […]
• Preaching: Communicating Faith in Age of Skepticism Keller provides six approaches to preach Jesus from all of Scripture that are appropriate to both the message and the context of a given chapter to assist avoid these pitfalls.
• Kant’s Categorical Imperative vs. Kierkegaard’s Notion of Faith The reason of why Kant’s ideas are preferable to me is that the categorical imperative allows to define what actions are obligatory and which ones should be forbidden and to choose the way that is […]
• “The Ethics of Belief” by Clifford and “The Will to Believe” by James Belief in God is a momentous decision, and the benefits of yielding to religious faith outweigh the potential risks of error.
• Human Experience and Development Of Religious Belief In an analysis of the role of the human experience in the development of religious beliefs, it is necessary also to note that the relation between human experience and religion is the exact background to […]
• Islamic Belief Is Comprehensive The central theme of Islam as carried in all beliefs is peaceful co-existence and respect for other people’s religion.
• Faith Integration in the Hebrew 11 Passage The examples of people leading by their example and convincing others to accept the Christian faith as the [path to salvation are incredibly inspiring, which is why the specified part of the Scripture has a […]
• Human Belief in Myths and Legends However, suppose one understands the meaning and the reasons for their creation, which in most cases are similar regardless of the area of origin of the legend.
• The “Dynamics of Faith” Book by Paul Tillich Relying on the study of Dynamics of Faith, Paul Tillich would analyze the “dynamics of faith” present in The Plague’s Fr.
• God’s Healing Is Not Influenced by Level of Faith For example, in response to the courage that the woman with the flow of blood demonstrated, Jesus said that the faith she had made her whole.
• The Relationship Between Faith and Charity The word church in the Apostles’ Creed, similarly to the Bible, refers to the people of God, the holy society made up of individuals who profess faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy […]
• The Role of Faith in the US-Middle East Foreign Policy Moreover, the belief that the US was the nation assigned the role of fulfilling God’s promise to his people and the whole of humanity encouraged them to contribute to the well-being of settlers and natives […]
• Reason and Faith in Christianity It should be stressed that the two entities of theological justification are seen to be reason and faith. People must have both the right justification and faith in order to believe, as those are the […]
• Mary Rowlandson’s Strong Faith, Captivity and Restoration Her strong faith helped her to endure her captivity and ultimately be restored to her family. Rowlandson’s faith in God gave her the strength to endure this difficult situation.
• Faith Integration: 1 Peter 5:1-4 The Bible verse can be applied to corporations that may take advantage of vulnerable consumers. Such an approach is detrimental to the consumers and the organizations.
• Pascal’s Wager: Belief in God as a Rational Choice It is one of the favorite tools of religious preachers who try to appeal to famous names and a kind of logic to convince people to enter their faith. The second argument against Pascal’s wager […]
• Evangelism in Daily Life: Sharing the Christian Faith The main Bible statement for Evangelism is “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”.
• How Christianity Faith Influenced Mathematics Christianity displays God to have qualities of order due to the fashion and timeline of creation. Divisive interpretations between Christianity and science challenge the interconnectivity of both fields.
• “Midsommar” and Sublime Nature of the Belief The work’s title hints at the central theme that follows the plot’s narrative the power of belief in the higher force in the world.
• Faith and Transformational Teaching The authors say that being deeply and comprehensively trained in the field being taught is the path to success as a teacher.
• Perception of Faith: Perspective and Science I became kinder, more righteous, and wiser as I began to deepen my understanding of the Nature of things. I first noticed the influence of the gospel when I had to make a difficult decision.
• Christian Faith and Scientific Disciplines It is believed that the introduction of philosophical naturalism to scientific thinking led to the development of the natural sciences. In contrast to the natural sciences, the social sciences focus on particular people and communities […]
• The “Your Grown-Up Faith” Book by Kenneth Parker The author shows the importance of the spiritual path in avoiding the traps of pseudo-spirituality and mysticism. The Youth’s Way is a challenging stage of doubts and searches for a place in the world and […]
• The Jewish Belief of Heaven and Hell in Comparison to New Testament The Old Testament Sheol is both the plan of dead souls in the direct and the state of the fallen soul in the figurative sense.
• Shintoism as a Faith Indigenous to the Japanese Currently, no central authority exists in Shinto, and practitioners employ a diverse number of ways to practice their faith Though the exact date of the creation of Shinto is not known, the variation of the […]
• Personal Reflection on Integrating Faith and Work The relevance of a Christian’s positive view of the sociocultural practices of other people is biblically supported by the story of creation.
• Augustine on Instructing Beginners in Faith The main thesis of this book is how to provide relevant instructions to the new converts. Therefore, improvements should be made to help in addressing the situation in most of the Christian conventions.
• Aspects of Belief of Jainism When learning about religions and philosophies, I find that origins or backgrounds are essential in interpreting the context and content of a religion.
• Christian Faith: Influence on Learning He discusses science and how humans are the products of the world they are endowed with feeling and thought, which are beyond natural.
• “Faith and Learning” by David Dockery The main feature of this perception of the literary text is that the reader should not look for the secret meaning of the writer.
• “Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism” Book by Tim Keller In his book, Timothy Keller underlines the centrality of the gospel as one of the major means to connect an individual and the Church and establish fair and effective relationships.
• Health Belief Model: Description and Concepts The concept is based on a person’s sufficient motivation to affect an issue, the existence of a threat, and the realization that the benefits are worth the cost.
• Faith and Other Areas of Human Development From my point of view, there is undoubtedly a certain kind of connection between the development of faith and other areas of human development.
• Evolutionary Ethics vs. Belief in God In addition, the disadvantage of the evolutionary theory is that moral and ethical norms cannot be determined only to a biological degree.
• Spiritual Formation Reflection: Integrating Faith and Learning This strengthened understanding of the mutual necessity of faith and learning in becoming closer to God is a crucial result of this course for me.
• Philosophy of Religion: Approaches to Faith and Church The epistemology in this work is not based on avid socialism but a specific definition of concepts and their application to religion.
• Integrating Faith While Caring for Pediatric Patients: The Concept of Health The key points that the paper discusses are the need to care for patients, the desire to offer emotional support to them, the responsibility of personal sacrifice, and the call to be committed to the […]
• The Experience of Faith The major concern in religion is that the relationship between faith and spirituality is a frequently debated subject among all Christians.
• Faith and Justice in the City. Seek for Justice It is crucial to have the same law and the same treatment to a foreign person and for a native-born, as equal treatment is one of the main aspects of justice, promoted in the Bible.
• Religion in Moliere’s Tartuffe: True Faith Versus Hypocrisy Notably, he uses religion as the major instrument of his influence as it is easy to become a mentor and guide through the hazards of the world.
• How Faith Leaders Are Divided Over Equality Act The Vatican refuses to bless same-sex marriages saying that this is not in accordance with the canons of the Roman Catholic Church since marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
• Public Health Theories. Health Belief Model For example, it is difficult to understand the relationship between perceived severity of HIV and perceived benefits of engaging in positive sexual health behaviors.
• Discussion of Miracle and Faith in Medicine Thus, one of the most interesting concepts tackled in the topic readings is the evaluation of scientism as a means of explaining the phenomena of death, illness, and morality.
• Identity Formation: Faith Overview As a result, I made a commitment and took the responsibility for my decisions, which was a long process. Undoubtedly, my faith was helpful in the process of my identity formation in other areas as […]
• Spiritual Growth: The Sense of Spirituality and Faith In the read story, the author mentioned two basic methods of development, which consist in the sense of spirituality and faith.
• Religious Belief and Buying Behavior The main categories to be assessed are religious affiliation and religious dedication in respect to Hinduism and Islam. According to the research, religious affiliation and religiosity play a vital part in shopping conduct.
• Faith and Gods in Ancient Civilizations Thus, it was important for the people of Ancient Greece, Rome, and China to have faith and praise the gods they chose.
• Role of Faith in Social Work The first lesson of this book is that social work should be multifaceted to meet the specific needs of people, and it should consider the opportunities that every person has.
• Faith Integration and Strategic Management At the Adult and Teen Challenge Ohio organization, which seeks to offer support and encouragement to women struggling with substance addiction, the focus on the search of a spiritual core as the key source of […]
• Faith Integration: Opportunities and Threats Adult & Teen Challenge Ohio presently operates in Columbus, OH, yet the organization may expand in the future to embrace larger markets and address the needs of a more diverse range of clients. It is […]
• Analytical Processing, Religion Belief & Science In order to test validity of the difference, it may be necessary to conduct an investigation on analytical processing skills of individuals in science and in religion.
• Health Belief and Precautionary Adoption Process Models The agreement to change depends on the susceptibility of the risk. The study established that the construct of risk perception among the parents played a crucial role in determining the completion of the vaccination process.
• Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity in Health Care The universal Christian community believes in the power of prayer in healing and the clergy offer prayers and spiritual nourishment to the sick.
• Faith Diversity: Healing Prospects Muslims believe in the effect of the evil eye, jinns or magic, and it is this effect that results in illnesses with a supernatural cause.
• Reason, Motivations, and Belief for Conducting Cyber Attack The end is beneficial to the threat source and detrimental to other users. In fact, activities of cyber attackers make the Internet both a blessing and a curse.
• An Ethical Dilemma – Religious Belief Versus Medical Practice In the first step, the ethical dilemma is between the principle of beneficence in the treatment of meningitis and the principle of autonomy with respect to the decision of the parents.
• Religion: The Canons as a Standards to Measure One’s Faith The authority of God in the New Testament cannot be exclusively attributed in the writing of the twenty-seven books that make up the New Testament as is the case with the Old Testament or Hebrew […]
• Religion: Christians’ Belief in God So, in essence, he might take such turbulent times as a test of faith since the belief in the existence of God lies within the affirmation that God is in all things that we encounter.
• Modality of Family Faith and Meanings and Relationships in Family Life The theme of this study is to investigate two broad categories of modalities of faith in family life: first, what they value or seek, and how they relate to God or to others and the […]
• Acting in Good Faith: Contract and Agency Law To start with the validity of the contract should be analyzed; and in this case, the two contracting parties had agreed mutually to reduce the amount to a nominal amount of $150.
• “Strength in the Unfeigned Faith” To the extent of questioning the incarnation of Jesus Christ, I become skeptical in basing my belief on the knowledge of this world.
• Christian Faith and Work With Service Members In their article, Kick and McNitt discuss the importance of faith in providing help to the military members, veterans, and their families.
• Faith-Based Organization Services as the Best Means to Prevent HIV and AIDS in Southern Cameroons The HIV/AIDS issue was complicated by the fact that at the moment of this research, there was no cure and the only way of addressing the infection spread was through prevention and ensuring that people […]
• Belief and Evidence Between Religion and Science Therefore, they base their hopes on the belief that all will be well with them, and they will wake up to continue with their daily activities.
• “Faith-Sharing” by Fox and Morris The three concepts that I have learned from the text include the meaning of faith, the motivation for faith sharing, and the appreciation of the meaning of faith sharing.
• “Ferguson and Faith” by Leah Francis In this way, the religious activists may raise public awareness about the topical social issues in relation to the spiritual dimensions of human life, and engage people “in conversation about the theological imperative” in the […]
• Four Apostles’ by Albrecht Dürer: Protestant Faith Protestantism emerged in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century as the opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and based on the belief in personal faith and the connection to God.
• Spiritual Belief Is the Integral Parts of Human Beings In other words, the fact of the existence of the universe proves the idea of God responsible for the creation of such ideal objects and things.
• Reason and Religious Belief. An introduction to The Philosophy of Religion’ by M. Peterson The chapter reveals that God is imperceptible to the senses of a man, and unconditionally pervades all the reality known to man. Therefore, it is challenging to reconcile the concept of God with evil and […]
• The Chinese Belief on Death and Dying These distinctions are visible due to several cultures act of subjecting to an influencing experience of death in the African perspective, the keeping with the nature of the Bible or its times, the people from […]
• Discovering Faith: The Search for Truth and Certainty The author starts his article with “truthseekers” using reason and faith as tools to find the truth. As opposed to both extremes- Fundamentalist Protestantism and Christian apologetic- Taylor argues that it is wrong to ridicule […]
• Creationism as a Religious Belief The evolutionary scientists believe that the positions taken by creation scientists on the origin of the earth and life forms are irreconcilable to theirs.
• Aquinas and Faith: Theological Theories Aquinas asserts that true faith should believe in what has been revealed by God The agreement that characterizes faith is being wholehearted and not timid. Through revelation one accepts the propositions in faith that God […]
• Martin Buber: Two Types of Faith The first type of faith is expressed in the continuity of the nation which one is born in and he is a member.
• Voluntaristic Faith: Readings by Clifford and James Faith, according to the readings of Clifford and James is a strong belief inscribed in the mind of an individual that that what they think is right.
• Ethics of Belief: Term Discussion For instance, in the above example of taking your friends to a restaurant, you have to follow epistemic norm and the moral norm almost becomes obligatory.
• ”The Believers”: An Analysis of Belief & Faith Thus faith involves a process and belief is only a part of the process by way in which you acquire faith faith being the ultimate expression of belief.
• Martin Luther: Justification by Faith Alone The basis of the doctrine of justification by faith is the doctrine of grace as undeserved favor of God to fallen humanity.
• Islamic Faith and Ritual Practice In the Islamic faith, rituals, known in their religion as ibadat, meaning acts of obedience, service, and worship to God, form the foundation on which the whole faith is anchored.
• Vedic Hinduism, Classical Hinduism, and Buddhism: A Uniting Belief Systems The difference between Vedic and Classical Hinduism is fundamentally approach towards life rather than beliefs or reformation and the progression from the former to latter is not clear in terms of time.
• Ethics and Combination of Religious Faith, Ethical and Aesthetic Beliefs It is essentially described by the existence of pleasure and in living an aesthetic life to the maximum one has to aim at maximizing the given pleasures.
• Christian Ministry and Personal Faith Moreover, should we want to focus on the Christian Ministry, and any other ministry for that matter, I think we have to get back to the basic teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this […]
• Islam: a Restatement of Israeli Faith He did not have formal training or wisdom to have made any editorializing or modification to the word of God hence Muslims believe that the Koran is the pure and unadulterated word of God as […]
• Cherokee Indian Belief: Gateway to Modern Civilization The Cherokee learned the art of combat war from the Europeans and they used the same tactics later on to attack their neighbors in the frontiers.
• The Christian Faith in Geisler’s and Feinberg’s “Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective” In spite of all this reason vs.revelation debate, there is an underlying determination that is made apparent in the book: this is the determination to overcome any kind of rationalist thought or idea and discount […]
• Islam: Connection of Belief With a Traditional Life Knowledge of the bases of Muslim doctrine is rather variously at various layers of the population and in the different countries of traditional distribution of Islam.
• The Conditions in Formulating a Reasonable Belief 2 Both ideas make sense, and the goal of this review is to compare the opinions of James and Clifford to strengthen an understanding of the connection between beliefs, evidence, and sentiments.
• Faith and Critical Reason Issues My understanding of faith is close to the definition suggested by Tilley, who argues that faith is the relationship between the person who has faith and that “which one has faith in”.
• Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith and Chinese Culture To support this argument, it is possible to read through the Awakening and note the parts that might have been influenced by the situation in China at the time.
• Cardiac Surgery vs. Faith Healing However, I believe that it is our duty as true Christians to forego any other interventions, including operations, since it has already been proven that it is wrong to go against God’s will.
• Core Values in Personal Belief System These are my core values and include happiness, family, friends, pleasure and financial security and stability. In conclusion, I agree that values are important to my life.
• Belief Systems in Generation X and Millennials As the purpose of the project consists in analyzing various belief systems pursued by Generation X and Millennials, it is purposeful to represent photos, statistics, and graphs uncovering the percentage characteristics in terms of the […]
• Reformation Theology as the Source of Religious Faith The three major teachings from Martin Luther regarding reforming the church include the fact that faith in God’s gift of forgiveness is very essential and is the only way through which individuals could win salvation […]
• “The Ethics of Belief” by William K. Clifford On religious beliefs, Clifford advises that belief matters are private and that people have the right to choose whichever religion to believe.
• Faith Development in Adolescents I believe my input was valuable for the patient and her faith development as she carved some of the spiritual pillars that would be helpful in her adulthood.
• Religious Belief and Academic Content It should adapt to the overall situation and change the nature of the speeches to reflect that the people’s righteousness was the cause of the good times and that their perseverance would help them overcome […]
• Faith and Excellent Systematic Knowledge In the context of a specific parish, one will need to encourage the promotion of parishioners’ education to ensure that they are aware of the key market principles.
• Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith is one of his writings that discusses religion that is close to the author.
• Philosophical Views: Faith vs. Science It is important to look at some of the philosophical views and philosophers that supported the concept of faith, science or both.
• Morality, Faith, and Dignity in Modern Youth The blistering evolution of society combined with the appearance of new opportunities resulted in the significant deterioration of moral and values which determine the nature of human actions.
• Mindfulness in a Faith-Based Education Setting The College’s overall strategy for the following years is to continue promoting education in faith to form the staff around the Lasallian values, improve their appreciation of these values, use the Lasallian principles as a […]
• Testing a Person for His Faith and Devotion to God Suffering is usually perceived as a negative experience since it is commonly believed that it is a punishment for the sinner.
• The Faith and Ethics Course: Attaining Ethical Maturity In Christian context, the Bible is the principle guide to ethical conduct and all actions should be in conformity to it.
• Faith and Ethics Role in Religion We will discuss two of the characteristics of the ethics of Jesus, that is, His new concept of love and the value of the individual person and how they can be incorporated in our own […]
• Christian Faith: Ancient Religion For example, ity teaches that Jesus is the son of God, he is the way to salvation, and he was sent by God to save the world from sin.
• Islamic Faith: Teachings and Practices Ahmed elaborates that Muslims in Middle East, India and Pakistan are keen and aware of the distinctions between the two factions.
• Religious Studies: The Rahman Discussion and His Faith in Islam Yes, Rahman believes in the teachings of the Quran because they are the basis of all his writing. He cites from the Quran that this day will be the Day of Decision.
• Religious Studies: Shinto’ Belief System This differs significantly from a vast majority of current belief systems such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and the Hindu religion wherein some form of the profession of faith is necessary to be considered a member […]
• Faith, Justice, War – and Human Rights in the Realm of the Present-Day World Quran: The Most Ancient and Sacred Islamic Book as the Basis for the Laws on Human Rights Considering the Issue from a Different Perspective: The Fifteen Postulates Security of life and property: bi-al haqq and […]
• Ushpizin: An Unshakable Jewish Faith This is a Jewish film owing to the title, language, setting, themes and even the actors involved in the film. The level of concern that they have for the Sukkot festival is indicative of their […]
• The Main Problems of “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief” by John Frame One of the best ways to solve this problem is to approach it from the point of view of God’s love for mankind.
• “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief” by John M. Frame The book goes further to analyze God’s will and power. Christians should use this book in order to establish the best relationships with their God.
• Integrating Faith and Learning Kotter and Keller provide that marketing management is the process of formulating and organizing marketing strategies to control the organizational activities as well as allocate the marketing resources.
• ‘Belief in Action: The Salvation Army, a Global Not-for-Profit Organization’ Strategic planning goes through a process from setting the mission, objectives, situation analysis, strategy creation, execution and finally control so as to achieve positive results and an effective plan of action.”Strategic planning is inextricably interwoven […]
• Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief In spite of the fact, objecting the position of Clifford, the person can support James’s views, and objecting the position of James, the person can discuss Clifford’s ideas as relevant, it is possible to provide […]
• The Individual, Faith, and Society Hobbes managed to overcome all the political and social havocs that affected his life and which were the major things that shaped the way he was thinking.
• Empowerment Through Art: A Biographical Study on Faith Ringgold But the key lies in knowing that the sickness is real, and her art strives to inform the masses of just that.
• Faith and Grace as the Peculiarities of Religion Analyzing the opinions of different researchers, it is possible to consider faith as a set of the moral principles caused by the personal experience of God, while grace is a gift given by God in […]
• Analyzing the Inculturation Process of Specific Historical Moments in the Development of the Christian Faith Inculturation refers to the process of going against the culture or societal values in the process of developing faith. This paper seeks to analyze the inculturation process of specific historical moments in the development of […]
• W. K. Clifford, ‘The Ethics of Belief’ Clifford provided an opinion in opposition to theism where his statements can be put in three points; there is inadequate evidence to believe that there is existence of God, it is incorrect forever, all over, […]
• Relationship Between Christian Faith and Science For this reason, science and faith are integral fields of knowledge that enhance understanding of the universe and human existence in the society; thus, theology should allow faith to correlate with science and seek understanding […]
• Cross-Cultural Psychology: Similarities and Differences in Belief Systems and Behavioral Patterns These similarities and differences in cultural backgrounds have led to emergence of cross-cultural psychology, a study on the interaction between diverse human culture, belief systems and behavioral patterns.
• Belief, Doubt and Modern Mind With the efforts to try and find solutions to one of the greatest mysteries, the ancient societies tried to come up with different suggestions that became a foundation for the creation of religion and religious […]
• Philosophy of Religion: Argument According to Pascal’s Wager on the Belief in God In the philosophical argument presented by the book, Pascal’s Wager, by Jeff Jordan with regard to the existence and work of God, it emerges that people’s belief in God is often enhanced by self-interests rather […]
• Belief Without Prior Evidence This is one of the main points that one can make in response to William Clifford’s essay The Ethics of Belief.
• “The Ethics of Belief” by William Clifford While advancing his idea that there can be no justification for people to be blinded with irrational beliefs to such an extent that they grow deaf to the voice of reason, Clifford resorted to the […]
• An Individual’s Belief is a Private Matter In Clifford’s article “The Ethics of Belief”, the author argues that individuals’ beliefs are not private matters. In the story of the ship, had the ship not capsized, the owner would have achieved his aims.
• Faith and Family: Video Review The significance of a family as a building block of the community is enormous because it is important for each individuals to have a feeling of connection.
• Blind Faith vs. the Rational Approach However, the novelty of the approach wears off quickly, since the only original idea of the presuppositional apologetics is that Christian religion is the only rational explanation for everything that happens in the world.
• The Ethics of Belief: Based on Evidence or Inquiry In his essay The Ethics of Belief, William Clifford argued that every form of belief had to be based on some evidence or inquiry.
• Families of Faith East and West, Their Cosmologies, Core Beliefs and Practice Christians believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church and that God is the creator and the savior of mankind.
• Historical Background of Islamic Faith The fundamental goal of this pillar is to ensure sharing among the Muslims. Muslims believe that the purpose of sexual relations is to beget children.
• Buddhism: Analysis of the Religion’s Faith and Practices This includes the name of the religion followers, the history and origins of the religion including the founders, the name of the Supreme Being or God, as well as the name of the place of […]
• Criticism of “Our Faith in Science” The authors imply that scientific methods can help to prove the positive effect of Tenzin Gyatso’s practices in order to tell about this phenomenon to the international community.
• Belief in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” This is the beginning of his disbelief and loss of faith in good. This is the main factor which points to the weakening of the society in general.
• Religion: Reason and Faith Judaism According to Anon, this is one of the religions that have their origin in the covenant of Abraham with God.
• What is Theology – Faith and Reason in Theology Paul Ricoeur specialized in philosophy and of relevance to this paper are his thoughts on the effect of the past on the present.
• The Belief in God The existence of God is justified in the sense that existence in the mind as a concept limits the idea of God already in the minds of people.
• Corporate Ethics in the “Business Through the Eyes of Faith” He concludes that prosperity and profitability in business should not be equated to God’s approval and favor, rather it should be perceived as due reward for diligence and discipline in the course of running the […]
• Utopia Is The Belief Of The Perfect Place On Earth
• What is Socrates Belief about the Pursuit of truths by the Critical Methods of Inquiry
• The Enlightenment of the Personality Disorder and the Belief of the Flat Earth Concept
• The Use of Belief, Faith and Struggle in The Road, a Novel by Cormac McCarthy
• What Does the Evidence Reveal About Belief in the Afterlife in New Kingdom Egypt?
• The Evolution of Awareness and Belief Ambiguity During the Process of High School Track Choice
• Understanding Fundamentalist Belief Through Bayesian Updating
• The Verification Principle Offers no Real Challenge to Religious Belief
• What Is Superstitions As A Belief Or A Way Of Behaving
• The Elements of Belief in the Horror Film Rosemary’s Baby
• Use Self Belief To Shape Your Own Destiny
• Why the Distinction Between Knowledge and Belief Might Matter
• Which Is Better, True Belief and Knowledge
• Weakly Belief-Free Equilibria in Repeated Games with Private Monitoring
• The Diversity of the Christian Belief under a Single God
• Universally Rational Belief Hierarchies
• Using the Health Belief Model to Understand Pesticide Use Decisions
• Why Alfred Hitchcock is Not Dead Contrary to Popular Belief
• The Importance of Compassion in My Life and Belief as a Ocean Lifeguard
• Toward an Economic Theory of Religious Belief and the Emergence of Law
• The Use and Belief in Superstitions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• William Clifford, Blaise Pascal And William James ‘ Arguments Of Belief
• The Hindu Belief In Respect For All Living Creatures
• The Influence of Human Conduct on Belief in God Essay
• The Influences of the Mexican Cultural Belief of Death in Pedro Paramo
• The Relationship between Belief in God and Grammatical Habit
• The Problem Of Education Is Teaching Individuals The Belief
• Witches and Devil Belief from Europe to America
• Time, History, and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico
• The True Puppeteer : Is It A False Belief Or An Idea Of Human
• The Relationship Between Belief Systems and Political or Social Hierarchy in South and East Asia
• Why The Government Is Allowed Their Own Personal Belief
• Witches This Was Necessary To Combat The Devil Witch Authorities Belief
• The Positive and Negative Effects of Mongol Practice and Belief
• The Sociological Challenges To Religious Belief
• Using System Dynamics to Investigate How Belief Systems Influence the Process of Organizational Change
• The Similar Belief in Gods of the Ancient Greek and Roman Religions
• The Three Generations of My Family and the Belief on the Idea of Having Children Out of Wedlock
• The Role of Communication in Attitudes, Belief Systems and Self-Motivation
• The Spiritual Belief Of Demon Possession And Epilepsy
• The Unethical and Unscientific Climate Change Denial in The Ethics of Belief by William Clifford
• The True Reason and Aspects Behind One’s Belief
• Understanding the Puritan Belief of Mary Rowlandson
• Toy Manufactures Has Enforced The Belief Of Children
• How Is a Belief System Different From an Ideology?
• What Is the Difference Between Belief and Belief System?
• How Many Belief Systems Are There in the World?
• What Is Belief System in Psychology?
• Did Athenian Democracy Erode Popular Belief in Divination?
• What Are the Characteristics of Belief System?
• How Does Social Media Influence Religious Beliefs?
• What Was the First Belief System?
• Can Belief Make Things Happen?
• How Do Values and Beliefs Influence Changes in Culture?
• What Are the Elements of Belief System?
• Are Religious Beliefs Associated With Nature or Nurture?
• What Beliefs Does Descartes Doubt?
• How Did Superstitious Belief Influence People?
• What Is the Difference Between Self-Belief and Self-Esteem?
• Can Beliefs Be Morally Wrong?
• Why Is It Important to Have a Sense of Belief?
• What Is the Difference Between Knowledge and Justified Belief?
• Is Science a System of Beliefs?
• What Was Machiavelli’s Belief on Power?
• Do Implicit Attitudes and Beliefs Change Over the Long-Term?
• Are Thoughts and Beliefs the Same?
• Do Different Cultures Have Different Moral Beliefs?
• Is There a Difference Between Religion and Belief in God?
• How Do Religious Beliefs Affect Decision Making?
• Chicago (A-D)
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108 Belief Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Belief Essay Topic Ideas & Examples: Exploring the Depths of Human Faith

Beliefs shape our identity, influence our actions, and provide meaning and purpose to our lives. They can be deeply personal or widely shared, encompassing religious, philosophical, political, or cultural perspectives. Writing an essay on beliefs allows us to delve into the complexities of human faith, understanding how it impacts individuals and societies. To inspire your exploration, here are 108 belief essay topic ideas and examples.

Religious Beliefs:

• The role of religion in shaping individual identity.
• The impact of religious beliefs on personal happiness and fulfillment.
• Analyzing the connection between religious beliefs and moral values.
• The role of rituals and ceremonies in religious practices.
• The significance of religious symbols and their interpretation.
• Exploring the concept of faith and its importance in religious contexts.
• The relationship between religious beliefs and the afterlife.
• The influence of religious beliefs on social and political issues.
• Comparing and contrasting religious beliefs across different cultures.
• The impact of religious beliefs on attitudes towards science and technology.

Philosophical Beliefs:

• The significance of personal philosophies in guiding life choices.
• Analyzing the connection between philosophy and morality.
• The role of reason and logic in shaping philosophical beliefs.
• Exploring the concept of free will and its implications on belief systems.
• The relationship between philosophy and religion in shaping worldviews.
• The impact of philosophical beliefs on ethical decision-making.
• The influence of philosophical beliefs on political ideologies.
• Examining the concept of truth and its interpretation in different philosophical traditions.
• The role of skepticism and doubt in challenging existing belief systems.
• The connection between philosophical beliefs and the pursuit of knowledge.

Political Beliefs:

• The influence of political beliefs on individual values and actions.
• Analyzing the connection between political ideology and social justice.
• Exploring the role of political beliefs in shaping public policies.
• The impact of political beliefs on attitudes towards globalization.
• The relationship between political beliefs and economic systems.
• The connection between political beliefs and attitudes towards immigration.
• The influence of political beliefs on environmental policies and sustainability.
• Examining the role of political beliefs in shaping international relations.
• The significance of political beliefs in promoting social equality and inclusivity.
• The impact of political beliefs on attitudes towards human rights.

Cultural Beliefs:

• The role of cultural beliefs in shaping individual and collective identities.
• Analyzing the impact of cultural beliefs on gender roles and expectations.
• Exploring the concept of cultural relativism and its implications on belief systems.
• The influence of cultural beliefs on attitudes towards marriage and family.
• The connection between cultural beliefs and artistic expressions.
• The impact of cultural beliefs on attitudes towards education and learning.
• Examining the role of cultural beliefs in promoting social cohesion.
• The significance of cultural beliefs in shaping dietary choices and food practices.
• The influence of cultural beliefs on attitudes towards aging and death.
• The connection between cultural beliefs and perceptions of beauty and body image.

Personal Beliefs:

• The role of personal beliefs in shaping individual goals and aspirations.
• Analyzing the impact of personal beliefs on decision-making processes.
• Exploring the connection between personal beliefs and self-esteem.
• The influence of personal beliefs on attitudes towards risk-taking.
• The significance of personal beliefs in promoting mental well-being.
• The impact of personal beliefs on attitudes towards relationships and love.
• Examining the role of personal beliefs in cultivating resilience and perseverance.
• The connection between personal beliefs and attitudes towards personal growth.
• The influence of personal beliefs on attitudes towards material possessions.
• The significance of personal beliefs in shaping attitudes towards failure and success.

Controversial Beliefs:

• Analyzing controversial beliefs and their impact on social dynamics.
• The role of controversial beliefs in fostering critical thinking and debate.
• Exploring the connection between controversial beliefs and social progress.
• The influence of controversial beliefs on attitudes towards marginalized groups.
• Examining the role of controversial beliefs in shaping media narratives.
• The significance of controversial beliefs in challenging societal norms.
• The impact of controversial beliefs on freedom of speech and expression.
• The connection between controversial beliefs and social activism.
• The influence of controversial beliefs on attitudes towards authority.
• The role of controversial beliefs in promoting empathy and understanding.

Scientific Beliefs:

• The impact of scientific beliefs on attitudes towards the natural world.
• Analyzing the connection between scientific beliefs and evidence-based thinking.
• Exploring the role of scientific beliefs in shaping technological advancements.
• The influence of scientific beliefs on attitudes towards health and medicine.
• The significance of scientific beliefs in promoting environmental conservation.
• The connection between scientific beliefs and attitudes towards climate change.
• Examining the role of scientific beliefs in shaping educational curricula.
• The impact of scientific beliefs on attitudes towards animal rights and welfare.
• The connection between scientific beliefs and attitudes towards genetic engineering.
• The influence of scientific beliefs on attitudes towards the origin of life.

Historical Beliefs:

• The role of historical beliefs in shaping cultural identities.
• Analyzing the impact of historical beliefs on nationalistic ideologies.
• Exploring the connection between historical beliefs and historical revisionism.
• The influence of historical beliefs on attitudes towards war and conflict.
• The significance of historical beliefs in shaping collective memory.
• The impact of historical beliefs on attitudes towards colonialism and imperialism.
• Examining the role of historical beliefs in shaping political ideologies.
• The connection between historical beliefs and attitudes towards immigration.
• The influence of historical beliefs on attitudes towards human rights.
• The role of historical beliefs in promoting intercultural understanding.

Literary and Artistic Beliefs:

• The significance of literary and artistic beliefs in shaping cultural movements.
• Analyzing the connection between literary and artistic beliefs and social change.
• Exploring the role of literary and artistic beliefs in challenging societal norms.
• The influence of literary and artistic beliefs on attitudes towards censorship.
• The connection between literary and artistic beliefs and the pursuit of beauty.
• Examining the impact of literary and artistic beliefs on self-expression.
• The role of literary and artistic beliefs in promoting empathy and understanding.
• The significance of literary and artistic beliefs in shaping collective memory.
• The influence of literary and artistic beliefs on attitudes towards social justice.
• The connection between literary and artistic beliefs and the imagination.

Media and Technology Beliefs:

• The impact of media and technology beliefs on attitudes towards information consumption.
• Analyzing the connection between media and technology beliefs and political polarization.
• Exploring the role of media and technology beliefs in shaping public opinion.
• The influence of media and technology beliefs on attitudes towards privacy.
• The connection between media and technology beliefs and the digital divide.
• Examining the impact of media and technology beliefs on online communities.
• The role of media and technology beliefs in shaping media literacy.
• The significance of media and technology beliefs in promoting digital citizenship.
• The influence of media and technology beliefs on attitudes towards artificial intelligence.
• The connection between media and technology beliefs and social media activism.

Environmental Beliefs:

• The impact of environmental beliefs on attitudes towards sustainability.
• Analyzing the connection between environmental beliefs and environmental policies.
• Exploring the role of environmental beliefs in shaping consumer behavior.
• The influence of environmental beliefs on attitudes towards climate change.
• The connection between environmental beliefs and attitudes towards resource conservation.
• Examining the impact of environmental beliefs on attitudes towards animal rights.
• The role of environmental beliefs in promoting environmental education.
• The significance of environmental beliefs in shaping attitudes towards eco-friendly practices.

These belief essay topic ideas and examples provide a starting point for your exploration of the intricate tapestry of human faith. Remember to approach each topic with curiosity, open-mindedness, and respect for diverse perspectives. By delving into these beliefs, we can gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

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32 “This I Believe” Essay

The history of ‘this i believe’.

by Tanya Matthews

This I Believe is an exciting media project that invites individuals from all walks of life to write about and discuss the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. They share these statements in weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered .

The series is based on the 1950’s radio program This I Believe , hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, some 39-million Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists and secretaries — anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. Their words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism and racial division.

Eventually, the radio series became a cultural phenomenon. Eighty-five leading newspapers printed a weekly column based on This I Believe . A collection of essays published in 1952 sold 300,000 copies — second only to the Bible that year. The series was translated and broadcast around the globe on the Voice of America. A book of essays translated into Arabic sold 30,000 copies in just three days.

[The NPR series This I Believe can be read and heard here . In addition, the website and organization This I Believe houses thousands of essays written by famous people, such as the ones mentioned above, and everyday people like you and me.]

As a college student in 2020, you are faced with turbulent politics, socioeconomic issues, and ethical dilemmas that will challenge you to take a stand and contribute to the local, national, and global conversation around you. The purpose of this writing task is not to persuade you to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, it is to encourage you to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from your own. Fifty years ago, Edward R. Murrow’s project struck such a chord with millions of Americans. It can do so again today…with you.

Video Resources for Generating Ideas

Dan gediman on writing a “this i believe essay”.

Read Cecelia Munoz’s essay “Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing” referred to in the previous video here .

“This I Believe” Essay with Animation

“This I Believe” Essay Ideas

Prewriting Activity

1) analyze others’ statements.

Consider the following statements, written in response to the question What Have You Learned About Life? Highlight any sentences that resonate with you. Talk about them with a partner or group, explaining why. 1. I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. – Age 9 2. I’ve learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. – Age 14 3. I’ve learned that although it’s hard to admit it, I’m secretly glad my parents are strict with me. – Age 15 4. I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it. – Age 39 5. I’ve learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don’t know how to show it. – Age 42 6. I’ve learned that you can make someone’s day by simply sending them a little note. – Age 44 7. I’ve learned that the greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. – Age 46 8. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. – Age 48 9. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die. – Age 53 10. I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. – Age 58 11. I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. – Age 62 12. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. – Age 66 13. I’ve learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I’ve seen several. – Age 75 14. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. – Age 82 15. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch—holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. – Age 85 16. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. – Age 92

2) Compose Your Own Statement

Write down a sentence that expresses what YOU have learned about life. Maybe it is similar to one of the statements above; maybe it’s completely different. Whatever it is, write it down.

3) Freewrit e

Now free-write about your sentence. Include at least two examples / experiences that you have had that support why you think this way.

Personal Statement/Philosophy: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do you believe in this statement? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name two experiences that you had that would support the statement: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What does this say about yourself or your personality? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After your life experience, how have you come to the conclusion that this should be your statement? How have your beliefs changed, if at all? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How has the event effected your relationship with a person, place, or object? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How does your statement apply to you today? (How you view yourself & society) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAYS

Sample #1: america’s beauty is in its diversity.

written by Alaa El-Saad,  high school student,  as heard on NPR’s Tell Me More (2009)

America is built on the idea of freedom, and there is no exception for Muslim women. I believe in the freedom of religion and speech. But mostly, I believe it’s OK to be different, and to stand up for who and what you are. So I believe in wearing the hijab.

The hijab is a religious head covering, like a scarf. I am Muslim and keeping my head covered is a sign of maturity and respect toward my religion and to Allah’s will. To be honest, I also like to wear it to be different. I don’t usually like to do what everyone else is doing. I want to be an individual, not just part of the crowd. But when I first wore it, I was also afraid of the reaction that I’d get at school.

I decided on my own that sixth grade was the time I should start wearing the hijab. I was scared about what the kids would say or even do to me. I thought they might make fun of me, or even be scared of me and pull off my headscarf. Kids at that age usually like to be all the same, and there’s little or no acceptance for being different.

On the first day of school, I put all those negative thoughts behind my back and walked in with my head held high. I was holding my breath a little, but inside I was also proud to be a Muslim, proud to be wearing the hijab, proud to be different.

I was wrong about everything I thought the kids would say or even do to me. I actually met a lot of people because of wearing my head covering. Most of the kids would come and ask me questions—respectfully—about the hijab, and why I wore it.

I did hear some kid was making fun of me, but there was one girl—she wasn’t even in my class, we never really talked much—and she stood up for me, and I wasn’t even there! I made a lot of new friends that year, friends that I still have until this very day, five years later.

Yes, I’m different, but everyone is different here, in one way or another. This is the beauty of America. I believe in what America is built on: all different religions, races and beliefs. Different everything.

Sample #2: The Essentials to Happiness

written by Alexxandra Schuman, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

As a child, I was generally happy; singing and dancing to my favorite songs; smiling and laughing with my friends and family. But as far back as second grade, I noticed a “darkness,” about me. I didn’t enjoy engaging in many things. I didn’t relate to my peers in elementary school because they appeared so happy, and I didn’t have that ability to achieve happiness so easily.

In middle school things in my life began to get even worse. I began withdrawing from everything I once enjoyed; swimming, tennis, family. I hated going to sleep knowing I had to wake up to another day. I was always tired. Everything was horrible. Finally, midway through eighth grade, I was told I had a chemical imbalance; diagnosed with clinical depression and put on medication. It took months for me to feel the effects of the medication.

When I began to feel happy again, is when I realized that I had to take the responsibility for getting better myself, rather than relying on medication and therapy alone. Aristotle said, “To live happily is an inward power of the soul,” and I believe that this quote describes what I had to do to achieve happiness. Happiness is a journey. Everyone seems to need different things to be happy. But I believe people are blinded from what truly makes one happy.

Growing up, we’re encouraged to be successful in life; but how is success defined? Success and happiness are imagined now as having a lot of money. It is so untrue. Recently I went to Costa Rica and visited the small town of El Roble. I spent the day with a nine-year old girl named Marilyn. She took me to her house to meet her parents. It was obvious that they were not rich; living in a small house with seven children. The house was cluttered but full of life. Those who have decided that success and happiness comes from having money and a big house would be appalled at how utterly happy this family from El Roble is. People say that seeing things like that make you appreciate what you have, but for me, it made me envy them for being so happy without all the things I have.

“The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for,” a quote from William Blake sums up what I believe people need to realize to be truly happy in life. People need love; I feel they need their family and their friends more than anything in the world. People need work to do, something to make them feel they are making a difference in the world. People need to know that more good is to come in the future, so they continue to live for “now” instead of constantly worrying about the bad that could come. And most importantly people need to know that happiness is not something that happens overnight. Love and hope is happiness.

Sample #3: Find a Good Frog

written by Delia Motavalli, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

I believe in finding a good frog. It seems that all throughout childhood, we are taught to look for a happily ever after. “And they all lived happily ever after”; isn’t that the conclusion to many children’s films? When I was a kid I always thought of that as magical; but now really it just seems unrealistic. And it teaches us that what we want is a fairytale like they have in the storybooks. We all want to be Cinderella who gets swept off her feet by the hot prince; we want to live in the royal castle, right? But I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing for us to seek. Now I’m not saying I believe in being pessimistic, but I do believe in being realistic; it’s something I got from my mom.

My mother and I always have our best conversations in the rain. We sit in the car, neither of us wanting to brave the rain to get to the house. So we sit. We watch droplets race down the windshield, listen to the rain strike the roof of her little blue Honda, and feel the heater on full-blast rushing at our feet (just the way we like it). I don’t know why, but sitting in the car, we always talk more than normal. There was one rainy day when my mom told me something that is going to stick with me forever. Earlier that day she and my dad had been arguing about something; I can’t remember what. So she said, “Don’t spend your life looking for Prince Charming. Instead, find yourself a really good frog.”

At the time, I found this thought really disheartening. Who wants to think that you’ll never find Prince Charming? You’ll never get to be Cinderella? Another thought that struck my mind: if my mom says there’s no Prince Charming, then what’s my dad? A frog? I asked her, and she replied with, “Of course! If he were Prince Charming, he wouldn’t snore, would be able to cook, and we would never argue. But you know what? He’s a damn good frog.” Of course, being young, I didn’t think of the meaning behind what she was saying. I was too busy thinking of it literally, visualizing my mom as a princess and my dad in frog form.

But a few years later, I understand the value of my mom’s words. You can’t expect everything to be perfect. Let’s be completely honest; if you wait your whole life for your prince with flowing hair, statuesque features, and a white horse, you’re going to be lonely. I think that the point of finding a good frog is you accept something that’s great, flaws and all. It’s so easy to be picky. You can find the one tiny thing that’s wrong, and that one tiny thing is what you can’t get your mind off of. But in life, we can’t afford to wait years in vain for perfection. So I think that a good frog, an amazing frog, the best frog you can find is what we’re really looking for in this world. Don’t laze through life waiting for a happily ever after, because I don’t think you’ll be very happy with the outcome.

Examples from the ‘This I Believe’ Website

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude by Sarah Adams

They Lived Their Faith by Charles Henry Parrish

Returning to What’s Natural by Amelia Baxter-Stoltzfus

The Birthright of Human Dignity by Will Thomas

Remembering All The Boys by Elvia Bautista

I Am Still The Greatest by Muhammad Ali

A Goal Of Service To Humankind by Anthony Fauci

My Life Is Better by Abraham

Give Me a Waffle by Brenda

The Little Things by Sophie Crossley

You can also browse thousands more This I Believe essays by theme .

Prefer to Listen to Get Inspiration?

Check out This I Believe’s Podcast Series

4) Drafting

Assignment guidelines + suggestions and tips for drafting.

1. While the examples you’ve been given can serve as a model, it is essential that each of you write about a personal belief or philosophy that you feel strongly about. 2. Tell a story. Personal experiences are the corner stone of a good essay. Your story doesn’t have to be a heart breaker or even a major event, but it must be something that has affected how you think, feel, and act. List your personal experiences that you intend to use as evidence below: 3. Be concise. Avoid repetition. This essay should be between 500 – 650 words. When read aloud, it should take roughly four minutes. 4. Name your belief. It is essential that you can name your belief in a sentence or two. Focus on one belief only. This is your thesis. Write it here: 5. Be positive. Avoid preaching or persuading. You aren’t trying to change the way others think or act. Write about what you believe, not what you don’t believe. 6. Use the first person. Speak for yourself. Avoid using we or you. 7. Let your voice shine. Use language that sounds like you. Read it aloud as your revise. Keep making changes until your essay sounds like you and captures the essence of your belief.

5) Peer Review

Once you have written your first draft, arrange for your essay to be edited by a peer, using the following Peer-Editing Checklist: Writer’s Name: ________________________________________________ Peer Editor’s Name: ________________________________________________ Use your PENCIL or PEN (NOT red or green) to make corrections. Remember, this essay is a work in progress. You are not done writing! Look for ways to improve what you’ve already written. Tick each step if it has been completed. _____ 1. Read the paper backwards, one sentence at a time. Check for spelling errors. Use a dictionary, a friend, or a spell checker to find the correct spelling. _____ 2. Check for capitalized proper nouns and the first word of each sentence. _____ 3. Skip a line between each paragraph. _____ 4. Every sentence should have end punctuation. _____ 5. Check commas. Are they only used for compound sentences, a list of items, an introductory word or phrase, direct address, setting off interruptions, separating adjectives, or in dates? Do you need to add commas? Make sure you do not have commas separating complete sentences (i.e. comma splice errors that create run-on sentences). _____ 6. Apostrophes are used only for contractions and to show ownership. _____ 7. The use of more complex punctuation (dashes, hyphens, semi-colons, parentheses, etc.) is done correctly. _____ 8. Have you used commonly mixed pairs of words correctly? Check these: they’re/their/there, your/you’re, it’s/its, a/an, to/too/two, are/our/hour, and others. _____ 9. Read the paper backwards one sentence at a time. Check for sentence fragments and run-ons and correct them. _____ 10. Did you stay in present tense (such as is, am, do, take, know, etc.) or past tense (such as was, were, did, took, knew, etc.) throughout the entire essay? _____ 11. Did you stay in first person (I, me, my, we, us, our) or third person (he, him, she, her, they, them, their) throughout the entire essay? _____ 12. Was there adequate use of specific details and sensory details? Were the details clear and relevant to the statement? _____ 13. Is the overall purpose/philosophy clear? _____ 14. Does the conclusion make you go, “Wow!” “Cool!” “I never thought about it that way,” or any other similar reaction? Other suggestions for the overall content of the piece: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This I Believe by Tanya Matthews is licensed by CC-BY-SA

“This I Believe” Essay Copyright © 2020 by Liza Long; Amy Minervini; and Joel Gladd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Common Application Essay Option 3 Tips: Challenging a Belief

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The third essay option on the Common Application in 2020-21 asks a question designed to probe your beliefs and character. The current prompt reads: 

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Quick Tips: An Essay on Challenging a Belief

• You have lots of leeway with this question for a "belief or idea" can be almost anything you've ever questioned.
• Focus on the word "reflect"—your essay needs to be thoughtful and inward looking; avoid merely describing what happened.
• Show off college success skills such as your ability to ask questions, probe assumptions, test ideas, and engage in thoughtful debate.

The focus on a "belief or idea" makes this question wonderfully (and perhaps paralyzingly) broad. Indeed, you could write about almost anything that you've ever openly questioned, whether it be your school's daily recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, the color of your team uniforms, or the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing. Of course, some ideas and beliefs will lead to better essays than others.

Choosing an Idea or Belief

Step one in tackling this prompt is coming up with an "idea or belief" you have questioned or challenged that will lead to a good essay. Keep in mind that the belief could be your own, your family's, a peer's, a peer group's, or a larger social or cultural group's.

As you narrow down your options, don't lose sight of the purpose of the essay: the college to which you are applying has holistic admissions , so the admissions folks want to get to know you as a whole person, not just as a list of grades , awards, and test scores . Your essay should tell the admissions officers something about you that will make them want to invite you to join their campus community. Your essay needs to show that you are a thoughtful, analytical, and open-minded person, and it should also reveal something that you care about deeply. Thus, the idea or belief that you reflect upon shouldn't be something superficial; it should center on an issue that is central to your identity.

Keep this points in mind as you brainstorm your topic:

• The belief can be your own. In fact, your own belief can be an excellent choice for this essay option. If you are able to reevaluate and challenge your own beliefs, you are demonstrating that you are a student who has the self-awareness, open-mindedness, and maturity that are essential ingredients for college success.
• The belief or idea can take many forms: a political or ethical belief, a theoretical or scientific idea, a personal conviction, an entrenched way of doing things (challenging the status quo), and so on. Tread carefully, however, as some topics should be avoided and can send your essay into controversial or potentially risky territory.
• Your challenge of the idea or belief need not have been successful. For example, if your community believes in the value of killing snakes on Whacking Day and you ran a campaign to stop this barbaric practice, your efforts could lead to a good essay whether or not you were successful (if you were not successful, your essay might also work for option #2 on learning from failure).
• The best essays reveal something that the writer is passionate about. By the end of the essay, the admissions folks should feel that they have a much better grasp on what it is that motivates you. Be sure to explore an idea or belief that will allow you to present some of your interests and passions.

Break Down the Question

Read the prompt question carefully as it has three distinct parts:

• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea ; reflective writing is popular in higher education today, and to respond effectively to this prompt, it is important to understand what reflection is and what it isn't. Reflection is far more than summarizing or reminiscing. Your task with this question isn't simply to describe a time when you questioned or challenged a belief. To "reflect" upon something you did is to analyze and contextualize your actions. What were your motives? Why did you do what you did? What were you thinking at the time, and in retrospect, were your thoughts at the time appropriate? How have your questions and actions played a role in your personal growth?
• What prompted your thinking?  If you did the first part of the question effectively ("reflect"), then you've already responded to this part of the question. Again, make sure you aren't just describing what you were thinking and how you acted. Explain why you were challenging the belief or idea. How did your own beliefs and ideas motivate you to question challenge some other belief or idea? What was the tipping point that spurred your to question the belief?
• What was the outcome? This part of the prompt is also asking for reflection. Look back at the big picture and put your challenge in context. What were the results of challenging the belief or idea? Was challenging the belief worth the effort? Did good come of your action? Did you pay a heavy price for your challenge? Did you or someone else learn and grow from your efforts? Realize that your answer here need not be "yes." Sometimes we challenge beliefs only to learn later that the outcome wasn't worth the cost. You don't need to present yourself as a hero who changed the world through your challenge of the status quo. Many excellent essays explore a challenge that didn't turn out as planned. Indeed, sometimes we grow more from missteps and failures than we do from triumph.

A Sample Essay on Challenging a Belief

To illustrate that the belief or idea you questioned doesn't need to be anything monumental, check out Jennifer's response to Common Application essay option #3, in her essay titled Gym Class Hero . The idea that Jennifer challenged was her own—her self-doubt and insecurity that often hold her back from accomplishing her full potential. The sample makes clear that a good essay can emerge from seemingly small, personal beliefs. You don't need to be tackling the world's most challenging problems in your essay.

A Final Note on Essay Option #3

College is all about challenging ideas and beliefs, so this essay prompt engages a key skill for college success. A good college education is not about being spoon fed information that you will regurgitate in papers and exams. Rather, it is about asking questions, probing assumptions, testing ideas, and engaging in thoughtful debate. If you choose essay option #3, make sure you demonstrate that you have these skills.

Last of all, pay attention to style , tone, and mechanics. The essay is largely about you, but it is also about your writing ability. A winning application essay needs to have clear, crisp, engaging language, and it needs to be free of errors.

• The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
• Tips for Writing an Essay on an Event That Led to Personal Growth
• "Gym Class Hero" - a Common Application Essay Sample for Option #3
• Common Application Essay Option 2 Tips: Learning from Failure
• Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude
• Topic of Your Choice: Common Application Essay Tips
• College Application Essay - The Job I Should Have Quit
• 5 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on an Important Issue
• 2020-21 Common Application Essay Option 4—Solving a Problem
• Common Application Essay, Option 1: Share Your Story
• "Grandpa's Rubik's Cube"—Sample Common Application Essay, Option #4
• Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time
• Common Application Essay on a Meaningful Place
• "Handiwork" - Sample Common Application Essay for Option #1
• Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application
• Tips for an Application Essay on a Significant Experience

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Writing the Common App Essay: Prompt #3—Challenging Beliefs or Ideas

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Now that the Common Application for the 2016-2017 cycle is available, it’s time to start think about ideas for your essay. Because you will probably be sending the Common App to many of the colleges on your list, it’s a good idea to start planning what you want to say early on. Unlike some other parts of your application, such as grades and test scores, the essay portion is subjective and allows you complete control over how you present yourself. It gives you a chance to show sides of yourself that may not be evident in the more objective aspects of your application.

Prompt #3 of the Common Application asks the following:

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Unpacking the prompt

This prompt is a great way to show colleges who you are and what is important to you. While much of your application focuses on your intelligence, success as a student, hard work, and achievements, this is an opportunity to demonstrate your personality and willingness to take risks. Reflecting on a time you challenged a belief or idea allows you to show colleges what your values are.

This prompt may seem a little tricky at first because as a high school student, you may not have participated in many large-scale protests, which initially may seem like the only way to respond to this prompt. However, your response doesn’t need to present a time you radically altered the status quo. You can challenge beliefs in a multitude of small ways that may not even seem that radical to you, but may have made a difference—however big or small—to a person or a system. Of course, if you do have an example of a time you effected great change, this is a great opportunity to do write about it.

Usually, challenging a long-held belief or idea requires some kind of challenge or stress to your own way of acting. That doesn’t mean the incident you choose needs to have resulted in a massive consequence to you, or that you must have put everything on the line. But it does mean it should be something outside of your norm, and something that caused some amount of disruption to the way you and others typically behave.

Think about why you did what you did and why it was important to you. Was it something that bothered you for a long time? Did you know beforehand you were going to act, or was it a spur of the moment decision?

You should also be sure to explore some ways what you did affected you. Did you learn anything from your actions? Did it change or alter your views in any way? In answering whether or not you would make the same decision again, explain why or why not.

Developing an idea

As discussed above, your topic doesn’t need to be something that radically altered the norms of society. Even if you influenced just one person’s life, it may be worth discussing. For instance, you could write about a time you stood up for a friend or peer who was being bullied, or a time you befriended someone who was considered unpopular. Or you might describe a time you called someone out for using hateful or discriminatory language. The essay is less about the incident itself and more about what it demonstrates about you as a person .

Note that it is okay to write about something somewhat controversial here. But make sure you are limiting the controversy to the action or idea itself, and not how you present it or perceive it. For instance, if you engaged in an anti-war rally or a political protest, you should explain why the cause is important to you and your specific participation. Avoid disparaging others or explaining why you think the opposition is wrong or at fault—and never use insulting or derogatory language. There is definitely a such thing as too controversial. You should never write about a time when you did anything discriminatory, inappropriate, violent, or illegal. If you have any concerns about how something might come across or how you will appear, you may want to avoid writing about that particular incident.

If you are having trouble coming up with an idea for your essay, try making a list of values and opinions that are especially important to you. Then consider how you have presented these views. Have there been any instances in which you needed to get outside your comfort zone in order to express something that is important to you?

This is an opportunity to think outside the box a bit. Challenging a belief doesn’t necessarily mean you stood at a podium and vocalized your stance on a particular cause. Instead, it might mean you started a club or program aimed at feeding the hungry and encountered some difficulties in getting people to take you seriously as a teenager. Or perhaps you overcame your shyness in order to perform an act at a talent show. If you encountered any dissonance regarding adults’ or peers’ expectations of you and what you are capable of and powered through, that is an example of challenging a belief.

If the results of your challenge weren’t necessarily what you expected, don’t write it off as a bad idea for an essay. Such experiences provide an opportunity to explore how you might approach the situation differently in the future, or how you could manage or change your expectations. You could even write about a time when you challenged a belief and later realized you were in the wrong, and explain how you came to that conclusion and what you think about it now.

While it is certainly acceptable to write about implementing small-scale change, you should avoid topics that may come across as trivial or actions that you performed solely to directly benefit yourself. For instance, if you led a protest against your school’s dress code because you wanted to be able to wear tank tops to school, you may not want to share this story with colleges. However, if the protest spoke to larger issues with your school’s administration and unfair or unequal treatment of students, you might use approach it from that lens.

You should also avoid writing about a way you effected change that was meant to benefit you and no one else, unless it reflected a larger societal issue. For example, your campaign to institute more clam chowder days at the cafeteria because you particularly like clam chowder is not going to impress the admissions committee. However, if you attempted to institute healthier food options in the cafeteria because childhood obesity is on the rise, that might be an issue you could tackle in your essay.

Writing the essay

You are telling a story in this essay. Since this is an opportunity to talk about a particular experience that actually happened, keep in mind all the conventions of a narrative. It should have a conflict and a resolution, even if that resolution doesn’t feel final. The resolution could even be your own thoughts regarding the experience.

A good way to open the essay—and really, almost any personal essay—is to tell an anecdote. That helps draw the reader in and engage him or her in the narrative you are telling. In this case, you might start with the incident itself, or, if you are describing a long incident or series of experiences, a particular moment.

For example, if you are writing about a time you organized a trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in a political rally, describe the setting. Bring yourself and the readers back to the scene. Tell them what it was like to sit on the bus and what you were thinking. Were you nervous? What were you hoping to achieve?

If you have not already done so in the anecdote, fully explain what happened during and afterwards in detail, including the reactions of others and your personal response. What did you feel while you were doing what you did, and how did you feel afterwards?

Explain what prompted you to act. Why did you do what you did? Did anything or anyone influence you in a particular way? How long did it take from ideation to execution?

Describe the aftermath. What did you accomplish? Were the results positive, negative, or mixed? If you had it to do over again, would you? This is another opportunity to convey your values to the admissions committee, as well as any life lessons you may have learned. How did the experience affect you? Did it change you as a person? (If it didn’t affect you at all, it’s probably not worth writing about.)

Since you have a 650-word limit, precision of language is key here. That doesn’t mean you should skimp on the details—in fact, the more details the better. However, choose your details and the parts of the story to include very carefully. If a particular element is not integral to the story, don’t include it.

Presentation

Throughout writing the essay, keep in mind that you are presenting yourself. This is a chance for you to shine. Colleges want to know about your values and personality here—not those of a teacher, friend, or family member. Even if you are writing about a group effort, you should focus on yourself and your participation, as well as how it affected you and why you were involved.

Consider your tone in the essay as well. You can express that you are proud of yourself, but avoid acting superior or putting down others for failing to act. On the reverse side, avoid putting yourself down, deeming your efforts as useless or unimportant, or presenting yourself as a failure. A little self-deprecation is okay, as long as it adds something to the overall essay. But you don’t want to come off as too negative about yourself or anyone else. Remember, you want colleges to get a sense of who you are and what you deem important, and ultimately impress them.

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How to Write a Paper About Your Beliefs

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Writing a paper about your beliefs, as part of a creative or essay writing course, requires knowing your thoughts and organizing them. Usually assigned as a personal essay, this topic is also used in social studies, philosophy and psychology classes. Personal essays about beliefs share the same essay structure as essays on other topics, and following an outline can keep you on point throughout the writing process.

Develop a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement should encompass your overall life’s philosophy as well as at least three major points that support that belief system. Your thesis statement guides your writing and is included as the final sentence of your introductory paragraph. Begin developing your thesis statement by making a list of words that describe your personal belief system. From that list choose three to five words that best encompass your entire philosophy and work those words into one or two sentences that explain your beliefs. Keep the ideas in the thesis as broad as possible to allow for specific examples and explanations throughout your paper.

Organize Your Thoughts

Once you have a thesis statement that gives an overall view of your personal beliefs, it is time to organize your thoughts into an outline. Your outline should have five main headings that talk about your belief system as it relates to things like faith, family, relationships, community and worldview. Each main heading needs three to five subheadings that provide examples of how your belief system informs each area of your life. Organize your headings as follows: introduction, three to five body paragraphs and a conclusion. The introductory paragraph introduces your topic and contains your thesis statement. The body paragraphs explain the points of your thesis, and the conclusion summarizes your paper and leaves the reader with some final thoughts about your belief system.

Introduce Your Topic

Use your introduction to let your reader know some background information about how your belief system has developed and how you plan to explain your beliefs throughout your paper. Your introduction should be conversational in order to draw the reader in and make her sympathetic to what you have to say. Remember that the goal of a personal essay about beliefs is to inform the reader and inspire empathy, not to persuade.

Build the Body

The body of your paper should be three to five paragraphs in length depending on your thesis statement. Each paragraph should cover one aspect of your belief system -- faith, family, relationships and worldview -- as outlined in your thesis and should contain three to five well-crafted sentences giving examples of how your belief system impacts each area of your life. For example, you might talk about how your belief system affects your daily and weekly schedule as far as church attendance, prayer times, meditation, yoga practice or other rituals you do that enhance or reflect your beliefs. Give the history of and reasons for these practices and how they coincide with your worldview.

Final Thoughts

Your final paragraph should summarize what you have written and include any information that further illustrates your personal belief system. Use quotes from people that personify your worldview or examples of behaviors from others that you admire. Your conclusion should leave your reader with a firm grasp of who you are and what you believe in three to five sentences.

• Writers Digest: How to Write a Reader-Friendly Essay
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Patti Richards has been a writer since 1990. She writes children’s books and articles on parenting, women's health and education. Her credits include San Diego Family Magazine, Metro Parent Magazine, Boys' Quest Magazine and many others. Richards has a Bachelor of Science in English/secondary education from Welch College.

How to Write an Explanation Essay

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Be True. Be Strong. Be Focused.

Defining Your List of Values and Beliefs (With 102 Examples)

February 23, 2024

Do you want to live a life of integrity in which your actions align with your personal list of values and beliefs? Great, you’re in the right place to begin living true .

Many of us struggle with finding direction, making big decisions, and even knowing how to act in day-to-day situations. When you take the time to consider your core values, these things become crystal clear.

Core values point the needle of your compass, illuminating the pathway toward living a meaningful life — one that’s filled with passion and purpose .

Instead of allowing outside influences like media, pop culture, or social environment to shape your life, you can be true to yourself.

In this article, I will help you uncover your true identity by clarifying your values.

By the end, you’ll have discovered a unique list of values and beliefs to help orient your life. And even better, you’ll have a clear idea of what actions you can take to experience life in true alignment.

Do you want to overcome self-doubt and take action in your life? Try our mini-course Believing in Yourself ! Learn four proven tactics to embrace your true self and live strong.

Originally published on January 29th, 2020, this post was updated and republished on February 23rd, 2024.

102 Examples of Values and Beliefs

Take some time to explore this list of values and beliefs, and consider which ones resonate with you:

Core Values List

• Intelligence
• Advancement
• Forgiveness
• Work Smarter and Harder
• Involvement
• Personal Development
• This Too Shall Pass Attitude
• Communication
• Commonality
• Contributing
• Spiritualism
• Cooperation
• Love of Career
• Friendship/Relationship
• Encouragement
• Pride in Your Work
• Contentment
• Professionalism
• Relationship
• Facilitation
• Effectiveness
• Appreciation
• Willingness
• Trusting Your Gut
• Giving People a Chance
• Self-Respect
• Reciprocity
• Entrepreneurial

Now that you’ve got plenty of ideas, you can begin to narrow it down to a few that could become the basis of your core value system.

Here are some questions to help you see where these values show up in your life:

• How do you define this value?
• What actions and activities reflect this value?
• What else could you do to further align yourself with this value? 
• Could you do more to include this value in your daily life?

Being True to Yourself

“A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not being true to yourself.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You

Start With a Solid Base

Every house needs a sturdy foundation. You can build a beautiful home, but it will sink into the ground without a solid base. 

The same is true with your values. Just like the foundation of a home, core values provide the groundwork for your actions, decisions, and behaviors. 

Without a base, your “home” falls apart, and you lose a sense of purpose and direction. You may appear to be successful, but still, feel lost. Until you define what success means to you , you’ll be chasing empty accomplishments.

If you don’t understand your values, you may violate them without realizing it. This can lead to feelings of guilt and shame, without knowing why.

Researchers confirm that when people have a clear set of core values:

• It’s easier to make big life decisions around pursuing passions, long-term career goals , and relationships.
• They are less likely to engage in destructive thought patterns, especially in difficult life situations.
• They tolerate physical pain more easily.
• They have greater self-discipline and focus when studying or working.
• Social connections are stronger.

Let’s begin by looking inward to discover what matters to you. It’s a process, and you might need support as you dig deep to find out what makes you tick.

The list of values and beliefs you are about to dive into is adapted from Be True: Discover Your Core Value System . It’s a course in which I walk you through proven exercises to find your truth and begin living it.

When you’re ready to start discovering how to figure out who you are , check out the course. In the meantime, here are some simple ideas to get you started.

Exercises to Define Your Personal Core Values

When it comes to core values, there’s no “one size fits all” approach. Everyone is different.

That’s why I don’t recommend jumping ahead to the list and choosing words that sound good. Instead, I invite you to pick up a pen and paper and spend some time on personal reflection — writing about what moves you.

Below are some questions to help you start this exploration. The answers you write down are clues you can use to identify your core value system.

1. Who Do You Admire?

To better understand what you value, it can help to turn to real-life examples of people who exhibit admirable qualities.

Who Are Your Role Models?

Think of some positive role models who inspire you to live a meaningful life. This could include people you know personally, famous figures, characters in a book, etc. 

As you think about these people, write down:

• What it is about them that inspires you.
• The admirable qualities they possess.
• Behaviors and actions you would like to emulate.

2. What Inspires You to Take Action?

Often our core values reveal themselves through our actions. Can you think of a situation when you took a stand for someone or something?

Try writing down some of the reasons you felt so strongly about taking action . For example:

• The feelings that motivated you to speak up or act
• What you were willing to risk in that situation
• The results of taking action – what you gained or lost

3. When Do You Feel Most Like Yourself?

When you’re in situations that allow you to be authentic, that’s a clue that you are in alignment with your values. And when you have to betray yourself to fit in or find success, you feel ashamed and alone.

In situations that feel wrong in some way, what’s going on? Write down:

• Who you’re with.
• What feelings are triggered.
• What these experiences cost you emotionally or physically.

In situations where you feel real and authentic, what’s going on? Write down:

• What activities are involved.
• Positive emotions or outcomes of these experiences.

Putting Core Values Into Action

Personal integrity.

When what you value the most is congruent with what you do, you are standing in your integrity.

Let’s bridge the gap between what you value and how to put that into action with some concrete examples:

Core Value Example: Freedom

If you choose freedom, you value “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”

Here are some examples of actions you could take to align more fully with freedom as a core value and belief in your life:

• Express yourself freely and openly
• Build a life where you can create your schedule, travel, try new things, etc.
• Nurture relationships with friends and family who give you the freedom to be yourself
• Become your own boss
• Include enough free time in your schedule

Core Value Example: Wellness

If you identified wellness as a core value, the active pursuit of health would become a priority in your life.

Here are some day-to-day examples of how your short-term actions would line up with this personal value example:

• Fuel your body with nutritious foods
• Stay active through regular exercise
• Take care of your mental health by taking breaks, getting enough rest, spending time with loved ones, and asking for help when needed
• Avoiding self-destructive habits

Can you see how your short-term actions can put you more in line with your long-term core values? You can also use your core value system to assess opportunities and make decisions as they arise.

Core Value Example: Compassion

If compassion speaks to you as a core value, then you want to ameliorate the suffering or help heal the pain of others.

Here are some of the things you could do to ensure that your actions line up with compassion as a core value:

• Be aware of the needs of others around you
• Listen carefully and without judgment, especially when hearing about other people’s problems
• Speak with kindness
• Accept people for who they are
• Forgive people when they make a mistake

Core Value Example: Creativity

If you expressed creativity as something important to you, then you value being able to express yourself freely and deeply.

To incorporate creativity into your day-to-day life, you could:

• Ensure that your immediate surroundings are beautiful and inspiring
• Set aside time every day to draw, paint, write, compose music, or whatever action speaks to your creative soul
• Journal your thoughts to discover new and emerging ideas within yourself
• Join a group where people get together to express themselves creatively – this could be a theater group or an ecstatic dance collective

Core Value Example: Courage

If you identify courage as being something true to who you are, you find it compelling to stand up in the face of adversity, do what’s right, and take on tasks that are difficult, dangerous, or uncertain.

You can manifest courage in your daily life through the following actions:

• Stand up for others when they are being bullied or belittled
• Rise to the occasion in situations that scare you
• Take responsibility and accountability for your actions
• Say no firmly to people or actions that don’t align with your soul or values 

Final Thoughts on Being True

By intentionally living in line with your values, you will feel an increase in happiness, peace of mind, creativity, and flow. 

As with anything in life, identifying core values goes beyond checking boxes on a list. Being true to your core values involves a lifelong journey of discovery, experimentation, trial, and error. 

I suggest revisiting your core values from time to time. You can use this core values quiz to assess the degree to which you are following your inner compass. If it feels like you have drifted off course, or you’re completely lost, I’d like to help you get back on track.

You’ve just uncovered a formula for discovering your truth , and you don’t have to do it alone! Isn’t it about time to start living according to your core values?

About Lyn Christian

Hi there, I'm Lyn . My purpose is to support you to earn a living and live your life by doing what inspires you. To accomplish this, I work as a coach, consultant, TEDx speaker, author and founder of SoulSalt Inc.

Essays About Religion: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

Essays about religion include delicate issues and tricky subtopics. See our top essay examples and prompts to guide you in your essay writing.

With over 4,000 religions worldwide, it’s no wonder religion influences everything. It involves faith, lessons on humanity, spirituality, and moral values that span thousands of years. For some, it’s both a belief and a cultural system. As it often clashes with science, laws, and modern philosophies, it’s also a hot debate topic. Religion is a broad subject encompassing various elements of life, so you may find it a challenging topic to write an essay about it.

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“Portraying Muslims as radical religious fanatics who deny other religions and violently fight dissent has nothing to do with true Islamic ideology. The knowledge that is presented in Islam and used by Muslims to build their worldview system is exploited in a misinterpreted form. This is transforming the perception of Islam around the world as a radical religious system that supports intolerance and conflicts.”

The author discusses their opinion on how Islam becomes involved with violence or terrorism in the Islamic states. Throughout the essay, the writer mentions the massive difference between Islam’s central teachings and the terrorist groups’ dogma. The piece also includes a list of groups, their disobediences, and punishments.

This essay looks at how these brutalities have nothing to do with Islam’s fundamental ideologies. However, the context of Islam’s creeds is distorted by rebel groups like The Afghan mujahideen, Jihadis, and Al-Qa’ida. Furthermore, their activities push dangerous narratives that others use to make generalized assumptions about the entire religion. These misleading generalizations lead to misunderstandings amongst other communities, particularly in the western world. However, the truth is that these terrorist groups are violating Islamic doctrine.

“Following religion blindly can hinder one’s self-actualization and interfere with self-development due to numerous constraints and restrictions… Blind adherence to religion is a factor that does not allow receiving flexible education and adapting knowledge to different areas.”

The author discusses the effects of blindly following a religion and mentions that it can lead to difficulties in self-development and the inability to live independently. These limitations affect a person’s opportunity to grow and discover oneself.  Movies like “ The Da Vinci Code ” show how fanatical devotion influences perception and creates constant doubt. 

“…there are many religions through which various cultures attain their spiritual and moral bearings to bring themselves closer to a higher power (deity). Different religions are differentiated in terms of beliefs, customs, and purpose and are similar in one way or the other.”

The author discusses how religion affects its followers’ spiritual and moral values and mentions how deities work in mysterious ways. The essay includes situations that show how these supreme beings test their followers’ faith through various life challenges. Overall, the writer believes that when people fully believe in God, they can be stronger and more capable of coping with the difficulties they may encounter.

“Mecca represents a holy ground that the majority of the Muslims visit; and is only supposed to be visited by Muslims. The popularity of Mecca has increased the scope of its effects, showing that it has an influence on tourism, the financial aspects of the region and lastly religion today.”

The essay delves into Mecca’s contributions to Saudi Arabia’s tourism and religion. It mentions tourism rates peaking during Hajj, a 5-day Muslim pilgrimage, and visitors’ sense of spiritual relief and peace after the voyage. Aside from its tremendous touristic benefits, it also brings people together to worship Allah. You can also check out these essays about values and articles about beliefs .

“Buddhism is seen as one of the most popular and widespread religions on the earth the reason of its pragmatic and attractive philosophies which are so appealing for people of the most diversified backgrounds and ways of thinking .”

To help readers understand the topic, the author explains Buddhism’s worldviews and how Siddhatta Gotama established the religion that’s now one of the most recognized on Earth. It includes teachings about the gift of life, novel thinking, and philosophies based on his observations. Conclusively, the author believes that Buddhism deals with the world as Gotama sees it.

Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

7 Prompts on Essays About Religion

Religion’s importance is embedded in an individual or group’s interpretation of it. They hold on to their faith for various reasons, such as having an idea of the real meaning of life and offering them a purpose to exist. Use this prompt to identify and explain what makes religion a necessity. Make your essay interesting by adding real-life stories of how faith changed someone’s life.

Although religion offers benefits such as positivity and a sense of structure, there are also disadvantages that come with it. Discuss what’s considered healthy and destructive when people follow their religion’s gospels and why. You can also connect it to current issues. Include any personal experience you have.

Religion’s prevalence exhibits how it can significantly affect one’s daily living. Use this prompt to discuss how religions across the world differ from one another when it comes to beliefs and if traditions or customs influence them. It’s essential to use relevant statistical data or surveys in this prompt to support your claims and encourage your readers to trust your piece.

There are various ways religion affects countries’ laws as they adhere to moral and often humanitarian values. Identify each and discuss how faith takes part in a nation’s decision-making regarding pressing matters. You can focus on one religion in a specific location to let the readers concentrate on the case. A good example is the latest abortion issue in the US, the overturning of “Wade vs. Roe.” Include people’s mixed reactions to this subject and their justifications.

In this essay, talk about how the most widespread religions’ principles or rituals changed over time. Then, expound on what inspired these changes.  Add the religion’s history, its current situation in the country, and its old and new beliefs. Elaborate on how its members clash over these old and new principles. Conclude by sharing your opinion on whether the changes are beneficial or not.

There’s a never-ending debate between religion and science. List the most controversial arguments in your essay and add which side you support and why. Then, open discourse about how these groups can avoid quarreling. You can also discuss instances when religion and science agreed or worked together to achieve great results. 

Use this prompt if you’re a part of a particular religion. Even if you don’t believe in faith, you can still take this prompt and pick a church you’ll consider joining. Share your personal experiences about your religion. Add how you became a follower, the beliefs that helped you through tough times, and why you’re staying as an active member in it. You can also speak about miraculous events that strengthen your faith. Or you can include teachings that you disagree with and think needs to be changed or updated.

For help with your essay, check out our top essay writing tips !

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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My Values And Beliefs (Essay/Paper Sample)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Who we are and what we do are largely shaped by important values and beliefs in life. It’s important that we are aware of these two as they are the True North of our decision-making. They also guide our personal relationships.

This custom essay tackles my beliefs in life, as well as my main values. This is my simple way of checking in on my personal life and assessing my code of ethics.

Would you like to write your own essay about beliefs and good values? Connect with Essay Basics so that we can help you in your creative process.

What are my values and beliefs essay

I grew up under my parents’ care. Throughout my life, they consistently told me that the beauty of life is experienced fully only by those who work hard.

As a kid, that did not sound relevant to me. My parents made sure I was looked after well; food, shelter, clothing, schooling, and healthcare were all easily accessible to me. I was comfortable without even breaking a sweat. All I did was just ask for what I wanted.

I never thought to consider what my parents were going through to make ends meet. I thought that every kid had it good like me. My parents never seemed anxious, even if they know they had to find a way to provide for the family.

How I’m doing today

I am all grown up now. I am about to complete my studies and start a fresh chapter of life – living independently, not requiring financial support from my parents. Thanks to the example they set, I now know the true value of hard work. It’s ingrained in me.

However, living in the 21st century is quite a challenge, thanks to the state of the world we live in. With the issue of gender equality yet to be completely resolved, it is even harder for us women. It’s only those who somehow manage to get heard that get a seat at the table.

Doing honest work and giving it my best brings me sheer joy and satisfaction. Over the years, I have earned the respect of my peers and mentors because of what I stand for. I believe in sowing good seeds in fertile ground for an abundant harvest.

Courage and confidence

I made one of my life-altering decisions at the young age of 15. I embraced courage and confidence. Standing in front of a multitude of people at a conference hall to deliver a speech is just like a walk in the park for me.

Nowadays, I can approach anyone without fear and I can achieve anything I put my mind to. However, the early stages of my teenage life were a mess. I was shy and got picked on, bullied, and harassed many times.

Throughout that ordeal, I tried to fit in and be accepted by the cool girls in my school. I would do the impossible for them – even sneak in contraband just to please them. How naïve of me! Still, they never accepted me. Experiencing this shone a light on the real state of my heart and mind.

Openness and transparency

My life is such an open book. There is nothing I have to hide. I love talking about all my experiences, emotions, dreams and goals, especially with people younger than me. I have gone through a lot in life, and I am sure that I am neither the first nor the last to experience what I have experienced.

Equal rights and respect for all

I believe that regardless of one’s race or gender, everyone is equal and should be treated with the uttermost respect and dignity. Observance of human rights is paramount to maintaining a civilized society.

Discipline, hard work, and positivity

I have always believed that discipline and hard work are like ingredients in a recipe to achieve one’s goals and aspirations. At the same time, maintaining a positive attitude and drive undisputedly translates to success and prosperity. I believe these are core values that have shaped me into who I am today.

In as much as I always strive to do my best in everything tasked to me, I understand that not everything I plan will pan out as expected. It’s so important, therefore, to maintain a positive attitude regardless of the outcome of my efforts.

In life, there are always ups and downs. I seek to stay happy and content whether I succeed or fail. I am in no way perfect, but thanks to my personal values, I am able to attain this.

I encourage you to make your own personal values your moral compass. It will help you become a better person and help you pursue your personal goals.

Short Personal Beliefs Essay

What is your personal code? What are the values and beliefs that define you as a person?

It is important for us to be aware of our beliefs and values as they tell us what our convictions are and how much we are willing to sacrifice to uphold them. They inform us what is important to us at the end of the day.

Personally, I adhere to the following values: honesty, responsibility, and unconditional love. These three for me are the key foundations to healthy personal relationships.

Honesty enables me to be transparent in sharing my unmet needs and expectations of others. Any relationship that withholds this kind of information will never flourish.

Responsibility for me is taking ownership of your role in any relationship. You hold yourself accountable for any action you take towards a person. It means you don’t get defensive if your intent was not recognized. Instead, you own up to the consequences of your decisions no matter the motivation.

Finally, unconditional love is the cornerstone of all these. Being able to dispense grace and not expecting anything in return is the key to a forgiving and nourishing relationship. Love doesn’t hold grudges.

Difference Between Values and Beliefs

Both values and beliefs have a place in culture, and they actually inform each other. A value answers the question, ” What is good?” while a belief answers the question, “What is true?” Values are the manner by which you approach or respond to a person or situation. Beliefs are the convictions or inner narratives we hold that define our values. The two combined are a reflection of our worldview or our perception of reality.

Why are values and beliefs important?

They are important because they are part of our DNA. Our identity and our sense of worth are rooted in what we value and believe in. Without having high self-awareness, we will not be able to identify what values or convictions hold true for us. They influence our moral compass and drive us to respond the way we do. They are a crucial way of understanding ourselves better and knowing what we need to work on. They are part of us knowing ourselves in relation to others. We must recognize the weight of their impact on our decision-making. Without both, we would always be susceptible to our blind spots and weaknesses. Knowing what is valuable to us allows us to choose whose opinions ultimately matter. It also guides us in resolving conflict. They give us a sense of personal right and wrong. They allow us to reflect accurately. Finally, it allows us to apply wisdom in every aspect of our lives.

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50 I Believe Essay Topics

To better train students on how to present their personal opinions on subjective matters, teachers will assign what is known as an “I Believe” or “This I Believe” essay writing assignment.

Designed to provide the reader with insight into the writer’s character, these essays are typically written in first-person point of view. The writer shares their beliefs on a particular topic – ranging from religion and politics to more personal subjects such as love and happiness – and offers supporting arguments for why they hold these beliefs.

The Challenges of Writing “I Believe” Essays

This type of essay prompt is a welcome break from more detail-oriented or researched-based writing assignments for many students. However, “I believe” essay writing assignments aren’t always easy.

It can be challenging for students to articulate their beliefs in a clear and concise way that isn’t argumentative or offensive to the reader. Students may also struggle to explain their reasoning behind these beliefs in a thorough and not overly simplistic way.

Despite these challenges, “I believe” essays can be an excellent opportunity for students to share their thoughts and feelings on important topics and learn more about themselves in the process.

Tips for Writing “I Believe” Essays

If you’re given an “I believe” essay assignment, here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Start by defining what it is that you believe. This may seem like a simple task, but it can be challenging to identify your core beliefs. If you’re struggling, start by jotting down a list of topics that are important to you – from politics and religion to family and friendship.
• Reflect on why each topic is important to you. Think about the reasoning behind your choices and how these reasons evolved over time. After all, your core beliefs are likely to have changed or grown since you reached adolescence.
• Determine which of your beliefs are the most important. Focusing on developing thought processes that support your beliefs. For extra help, consider sharing these thoughts with a trusted friend or family member for advice.

By reflecting upon your core beliefs and developing clear arguments to support them, you can craft a powerful “I believe” essay that will truly reflect your thoughts and feelings.

How to Write an “I Believe” Essay

To craft a well-written “I Believe” essay, students must forgo the typical essay structure of introduction, body, and conclusion.

Instead, the essay should be organized around a series of specific beliefs that the writer wishes to share. Each thought should be introduced with a clear thesis statement, followed by supporting arguments and examples.

The conclusion of the essay should wrap up the main points that have been made and leave the reader with a final thought to ponder.

Here is an example of how an “I Believe” essay might be structured:

Thesis: I believe that everyone has the right to love and be loved.

Argument: Everyone deserves to find love and experience happiness in their lives. This should not be limited by race, religion, socioeconomic status, or any other factor.

Example: I saw a video of a man proposing to his girlfriend at Fenway Park. She said yes and the crowd went wild! Now that is love. If they can find it, then so can we all!

Conclusion: Society should not stand in the way of love. Love is the most powerful force in the world, and we should all embrace it.

As you can see, the “I Believe” essay structure allows for a great deal of flexibility. Students can choose to focus on a variety of topics and can organize their essays in different ways. An “I Believe” essay can be an excellent opportunity for students to present their thoughts on important issues under a few simple guidelines. With a bit of planning and organization, this type of essay writing assignment can be a breeze!

What You Shouldn’t Do When Writing an “I Believe” Essay

To ensure that you are writing an “I Believe” essay and not another form of an argumentative or persuasive essay, avoid doing the following:

• Don’t provide evidence or use statistics to support your position – this is not an essay that calls for research.
• Don’t attack or criticize the beliefs of others – your goal is to share your own opinions, not to tear down those of others.
• Don’t go off on tangents – stay focused on the main points you want to make.
• Don’t speak objectively or in the third person – for example, don’t say “people believe that” or “studies show.”
• Don’t use filler words and phrases such as “I think,” “I feel,” and “it seems like.”

Use any of these 50 “I Believe” essay topics to help you brainstorm ideas for your essay!

I Believe Essay Topics About Life

• I believe that life is too short to spend time with people who bring you down.
• I believe that laughter is the best medicine
• I believe that we should make time for quiet reflection every day.
• I believe that the only thing that matters in life is love.
• I believe that we are all capable of change.
• I believe that it is never too late to learn and grow.
• I believe in the power of positive thinking.
• I believe that we should always be kind, even when it is difficult.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a coincidence.
• I believe in the saying “what goes around, comes around.”
• I believe that we are all responsible for our own happiness.
• I believe that the best things in life are free.
• I believe that it is essential to be grateful for what we have.
• I believe that it is never too late to achieve our dreams.
• I believe that we should surround ourselves with people who make us better.
• I believe that you can either love or hate something; there is no in-between.

I Believe Essay Topics About Education & School

• I believe that education is the key to a bright future
• I believe that children are our future and should be treasured as such.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a dumb question.
• I believe that schools should do more to celebrate diversity.
• I believe that homework is essential, but it should not be excessive.
• I believe in the importance of having a strong support system while attending school.
• I believe that standardized tests are not an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge.
• I believe that it is vital to find a balance between work and play while in school.
• I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn how to swim.
• I believe in the importance of recess and physical activity in students’ lives.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a bad grade.
• I believe that teachers deserve more respect and better pay.
• I believe that it is never too early to learn a foreign language.
• I believe that education should be free for everyone.

I Believe Essay Topics About Friends & Family

• I believe that family is the most important thing in life.
• I believe that friends are the family we choose for ourselves.
• I believe that it is essential to maintain close relationships with friends and family.
• I believe that there is no substitute for quality time spent with loved ones.
• I believe that family is not defined by blood but by love and commitment.
• I believe that we should spend more time with the people we care about and less time worrying about material things.
• I believe that it is better to have a few close friends than many superficial ones.
• I believe that it is healthy for friends to grow apart.
• I believe that competition between friends is healthy.

I Believe Essay Topics About Money

• I believe that money cannot buy happiness.
• I believe that it is essential to be happy with what you have, not what you want.
• I believe that people are more important than things.
• I believe that it is okay to splurge on something even if it means going into debt.
• I believe that it is better to give than to receive.
• I believe that money can’t buy everything.
• I believe that the love of money is the root of all evil.
• I believe in saving for a rainy day.
• I believe in investing in oneself.
• I believe in the saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees.”
• I believe that rich people should be forced to pay more taxes.

These 50 I Believe essay topics are sure to inspire your own original beliefs and help you create a powerful and unique essay. When writing your I Believe essay, be sure to focus on the beliefs that are most important to you and that you feel passionate about discussing. The best I Believe essays are the ones that are personal and reflective, so don’t be afraid to share your own thoughts and experiences.

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Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation

By Manvir Singh

Millions of people have watched Mike Hughes die. It happened on February 22, 2020, not far from Highway 247 near the Mojave Desert city of Barstow, California. A homemade rocket ship with Hughes strapped in it took off from a launching pad mounted on a truck. A trail of steam billowed behind the rocket as it swerved and then shot upward, a detached parachute unfurling ominously in its wake. In a video recorded by the journalist Justin Chapman, Hughes disappears into the sky, a dark pinpoint in a vast, uncaring blueness. But then the rocket reappears and hurtles toward the ground, crashing, after ten long seconds, in a dusty cloud half a mile away.

Hughes was among the best-known proponents of Flat Earth theory , which insists that our planet is not spherical but a Frisbee-like disk. He had built and flown in two rockets before, one in 2014 and another in 2018, and he planned to construct a “rockoon,” a combination rocket and balloon, that would carry him above the upper atmosphere, where he could see the Earth’s flatness for himself. The 2020 takeoff, staged for the Science Channel series “Homemade Astronauts,” was supposed to take him a mile up—not high enough to see the Earth’s curvature but hypeworthy enough to garner more funding and attention.

Flat Earth theory may sound like one of those deliberately far-fetched satires, akin to Birds Aren’t Real, but it has become a cultic subject for anti-scientific conspiratorialists, growing entangled with movements such as QAnon and COVID -19 skepticism. In “ Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything ” (Algonquin), the former Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill writes that the tragedy awakened her to the sincerity of Flat Earthers’ convictions. After investigating the Flat Earth scene and following Hughes, she had figured that, “on some subconscious level,” Hughes knew the Earth wasn’t flat. His death set her straight: “I was wrong. Flat Earthers are as serious as your life.”

Weill isn’t the only one to fear the effects of false information. In January, the World Economic Forum released a report showing that fourteen hundred and ninety international experts rated “misinformation and disinformation” the leading global risk of the next two years, surpassing war, migration, and climatic catastrophe. A stack of new books echoes their concerns. In “ Falsehoods Fly: Why Misinformation Spreads and How to Stop It ” (Columbia), Paul Thagard, a philosopher at the University of Waterloo, writes that “misinformation is threatening medicine, science, politics, social justice, and international relations, affecting problems such as vaccine hesitancy, climate change denial, conspiracy theories, claims of racial inferiority, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine .” In “ Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity ” (Norton), Sander van der Linden, a social-psychology professor at Cambridge, warns that “viruses of the mind” disseminated by false tweets and misleading headlines pose “serious threats to the integrity of elections and democracies worldwide.” Or, as the M.I.T. political scientist Adam J. Berinsky puts it in “ Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It ” (Princeton), “a democracy where falsehoods run rampant can only result in dysfunction.”

Most Americans seem to agree with these theorists of human credulity. Following the 2020 Presidential race, sixty per cent thought that misinformation had a major impact on the outcome, and, to judge from a recent survey, even more believe that artificial intelligence will exacerbate the problem in this year’s contest. The Trump and the DeSantis campaigns both used deepfakes to sully their rivals. Although they justified the fabrications as transparent parodies, some experts anticipate a “tsunami of misinformation,” in the words of Oren Etzioni, a professor emeritus at the University of Washington and the first C.E.O. of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. “The ingredients are there, and I am completely terrified,” he told the Associated Press.

The fear of misinformation hinges on assumptions about human suggestibility. “Misinformation, conspiracy theories, and other dangerous ideas, latch on to the brain and insert themselves deep into our consciousness,” van der Linden writes in “Foolproof.” “They infiltrate our thoughts, feelings, and even our memories.” Thagard puts it more plainly: “People have a natural tendency to believe what they hear or read, which amounts to gullibility.”

But do the credulity theorists have the right account of what’s going on? Folks like Mike Hughes aren’t gullible in the sense that they’ll believe anything. They seem to reject scientific consensus, after all. Partisans of other well-known conspiracies (the government is run by lizard people; a cabal of high-level pedophilic Democrats operates out of a neighborhood pizza parlor) are insusceptible to the assurances of the mainstream media. Have we been misinformed about the power of misinformation?

In 2006, more than five hundred skeptics met at an Embassy Suites hotel near O’Hare Airport, in Chicago, to discuss conspiracy. They listened to presentations on mass hypnosis, the melting point of steel, and how to survive the collapse of the existing world order. They called themselves many things, including “truth activists” and “9/11 skeptics,” although the name that would stick, and which observers would use for years afterward, was Truthers.

The Truthers held that the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center were masterminded by the White House to expand government power and enable military and security industries to profit from the war on terror. According to an explanation posted by 911truth.org, a group that helped sponsor the conference, George W. Bush and his allies gagged and intimidated whistle-blowers, mailed anthrax to opponents in the Senate, and knowingly poisoned the inhabitants of lower Manhattan. On that basis, Truthers concluded, “the administration does consider the lives of American citizens to be expendable on behalf of certain interests.”

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The Truthers, in short, maintained that the government had gone to extreme measures, including killing thousands of its own citizens, in order to carry out and cover up a conspiracy. And yet the same Truthers advertised the conference online and met in a place where they could easily be surveilled. Speakers’ names were posted on the Internet along with videos, photographs, and short bios. The organizers created a publicly accessible forum to discuss next steps, and a couple of attendees spoke to a reporter from the Times , despite the mainstream media’s ostensible complicity in the coverup. By the logic of their own theories, the Truthers were setting themselves up for assassination.

Their behavior demonstrates a paradox of belief. Action is supposed to follow belief, and yet beliefs, even fervently espoused ones, sometimes exist in their own cognitive cage, with little influence over behavior. Take the “Pizzagate” story, in which Hillary Clinton and her allies ran a child sex ring from the basement of a D.C. pizzeria. In the months surrounding the 2016 Presidential election, a staggering number of Americans—millions, by some estimates—endorsed the account, and, in December of that year, a North Carolina man charged into the restaurant, carrying an assault rifle. Van der Linden and Berinsky both use the incident as evidence of misinformation’s violent implications. But they’re missing the point: what’s really striking is how anomalous that act was. The pizzeria received menacing phone calls, even death threats, but the most common response from believers, aside from liking posts, seems to have been leaving negative Yelp reviews.

That certain deeply held beliefs seem insulated from other inferences isn’t peculiar to conspiracy theorists; it’s the experience of regular churchgoers. Catholics maintain that the Sacrament is the body of Christ, yet no one expects the bread to taste like raw flesh or accuses fellow-parishioners of cannibalism. In “ How God Becomes Real ” (2020), the Stanford anthropologist T. M. Luhrmann recounts evangelical Christians’ frustrations with their own beliefs. They thought less about God when they were not in church. They confessed to not praying. “I remember a man weeping in front of a church over not having sufficient faith that God would replace the job he had lost,” Luhrmann writes. The paradox of belief is one of Christianity’s “clearest” messages, she observes: “You may think you believe in God, but really you don’t. You don’t take God seriously enough. You don’t act as if he’s there.” It’s right out of Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

The paradox of belief has been the subject of scholarly investigation; puzzling it out promises new insights about the human psyche. Some of the most influential work has been by the French philosopher and cognitive scientist Dan Sperber. Born into a Jewish family in France in 1942, during the Nazi Occupation, Sperber was smuggled to Switzerland when he was three months old. His parents returned to France three years later, and raised him as an atheist while imparting a respect for all religious-minded people, including his Hasidic Jewish ancestors.

The exercise of finding rationality in the seemingly irrational became an academic focus for Sperber in the nineteen-seventies. Staying with the Dorze people in southern Ethiopia, he noticed that they made assertions that they seemed both to believe and not to believe. People told him, for example, that “the leopard is a Christian animal who observes the fasts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.” Nevertheless, the average Dorze man guarded his livestock on fast days just as much as on other days. “Not because he suspects some leopards of being bad Christians,” Sperber wrote, “but because he takes it as true both that leopards fast and that they are always dangerous.”

Sperber concluded that there are two kinds of beliefs. The first he has called “factual” beliefs. Factual beliefs—such as the belief that chairs exist and that leopards are dangerous—guide behavior and tolerate little inconsistency; you can’t believe that leopards do and do not eat livestock. The second category he has called “symbolic” beliefs. These beliefs might feel genuine, but they’re cordoned off from action and expectation. We are, in turn, much more accepting of inconsistency when it comes to symbolic beliefs; we can believe, say, that God is all-powerful and good while allowing for the existence of evil and suffering.

In a masterly new book, “ Religion as Make-Believe ” (Harvard), Neil Van Leeuwen, a philosopher at Georgia State University, returns to Sperber’s ideas with notable rigor. He analyzes beliefs with a taxonomist’s care, classifying different types and identifying the properties that distinguish them. He proposes that humans represent and use factual beliefs differently from symbolic beliefs, which he terms “credences.” Factual beliefs are for modelling reality and behaving optimally within it. Because of their function in guiding action, they exhibit features like “involuntariness” (you can’t decide to adopt them) and “evidential vulnerability” (they respond to evidence). Symbolic beliefs, meanwhile, largely serve social ends, not epistemic ones, so we can hold them even in the face of contradictory evidence.

One of Van Leeuwen’s insights is that people distinguish between different categories of belief in everyday speech. We say we “believe” symbolic ones but that we “think” factual ones are true. He has run ingenious experiments showing that you can manipulate how people talk about beliefs by changing the environment in which they’re expressed or sustained. Tell participants that a woman named Sheila sets up a shrine to Elvis Presley and plays songs on his birthday, and they will more often say that she “believes” Elvis is alive. But tell them that Sheila went to study penguins in Antarctica in 1977, and missed the news of his death, and they’ll say she “thinks” he’s still around. As the German sociologist Georg Simmel recognized more than a century ago, religious beliefs seem to express commitments—we believe in God the way we believe in a parent or a loved one, rather than the way we believe chairs exist. Perhaps people who traffic in outlandish conspiracies don’t so much believe them as believe in them.

Van Leeuwen’s book complements a 2020 volume by Hugo Mercier, “ Not Born Yesterday .” Mercier, a cognitive scientist at the École Normale Supérieure who studied under Sperber, argues that worries about human gullibility overlook how skilled we are at acquiring factual beliefs. Our understanding of reality matters, he notes. Get it wrong, and the consequences can be disastrous. On top of that, people have a selfish interest in manipulating one another. As a result, human beings have evolved a tool kit of psychological adaptations for evaluating information—what he calls “open vigilance mechanisms.” Where a credulity theorist like Thagard insists that humans tend to believe anything, Mercier shows that we are careful when adopting factual beliefs, and instinctively assess the quality of information, especially by tracking the reliability of sources.

Van Leeuwen and Mercier agree that many beliefs are not best interpreted as factual ones, although they lay out different reasons for why this might be. For Van Leeuwen, a major driver is group identity. Beliefs often function as badges: the stranger and more unsubstantiated the better. Religions, he notes, define membership on the basis of unverifiable or even unintelligible beliefs: that there is one God; that there is reincarnation; that this or that person was a prophet; that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are separate yet one. Mercier, in his work, has focussed more on justification. He says that we have intuitions—that vaccination is bad, for example, or that certain politicians can’t be trusted—and then collect stories that defend our positions. Still, both authors treat symbolic beliefs as socially strategic expressions.

After Mike Hughes’s death, a small debate broke out over the nature of his belief. His publicist, Darren Shuster, said that Hughes never really believed in a flat Earth. “It was a P.R. stunt,” he told Vice News. “We used the attention to get sponsorships and it kept working over and over again.” Space.com dug up an old interview corroborating Shuster’s statements. “This flat Earth has nothing to do with the steam rocket launches,” Hughes told the site in 2019. “It never did, it never will. I’m a daredevil!”

Perhaps it made sense that it was just a shtick. Hughes did death-defying stunts years before he joined the Flat Earthers. He was born in Oklahoma City in 1956 to an auto-mechanic father who enjoyed racing cars. At the age of twelve, Hughes was racing on his own, and not long afterward he was riding in professional motorcycle competitions. In 1996, he got a job driving limousines, but his dream of becoming the next Evel Knievel persisted; in 2002, he drove a Lincoln Town Car off a ramp and flew a hundred and three feet, landing him in Guinness World Records.

When Hughes first successfully launched a rocket, in 2014, he had never talked about the shape of the planet. In 2015, when he co-ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund the next rocket flight, the stated motivation was stardom, not science: “Mad Mike Hughes always wanted to be famous so much that he just decided one day to build a steam rocket and set the world record.” He got two backers and three hundred and ten dollars. Shortly afterward, he joined the Flat Earth community and tied his crusade to theirs. The community supported his new fund-raising effort, attracting more than eight thousand dollars. From there, his fame grew, earning him features in a documentary (“Rocketman,” from 2019) and that Science Channel series. Aligning with Flat Earthers clearly paid off.

Not everyone believes that he didn’t believe, however. Waldo Stakes, Hughes’s landlord and rocket-construction buddy, wrote on Facebook that “Mike was a real flat earther,” pointing to the “dozens of books on the subject” he owned, and said that Hughes lost money hosting a conference for the community. Another of Hughes’s friends told Kelly Weill that Flat Earth theory “started out as a marketing approach,” but that once it “generated awareness and involvement . . . it became something to him.”

The debate over Hughes’s convictions centers on the premise that a belief is either sincere or strategic, genuine or sham. That’s a false dichotomy. Indeed, the social functions of symbolic beliefs—functions such as signalling group identity—seem best achieved when the beliefs feel earnest. A Mormon who says that Joseph Smith was a prophet but secretly thinks he was a normal guy doesn’t strike us as a real Mormon. In fact, the evolutionary theorist Robert Trivers argued in “ Deceit and Self-Deception ” (2011) that we trick ourselves in order to convince others. Our minds are maintaining two representations of reality: there’s one that feels true and that we publicly advocate, and there’s another that we use to effectively interact with the world.

The idea of self-deception might seem like a stretch; Mercier has expressed skepticism about the theory. But it reconciles what appear to be contradictory findings. On the one hand, some research suggests that people’s beliefs in misinformation are authentic. In “Political Rumors,” for example, Berinsky describes experiments he conducted suggesting that people truly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim and that the U.S. government allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen. “People by and large say what they mean,” he concludes.

On the other hand, there’s research implying that many false beliefs are little more than cheap talk. Put money on the table, and people suddenly see the light. In an influential paper published in 2015, a team led by the political scientist John Bullock found sizable differences in how Democrats and Republicans thought about politicized topics, like the number of casualties in the Iraq War. Paying respondents to be accurate, which included rewarding “don’t know” responses over wrong ones, cut the differences by eighty per cent. A series of experiments published in 2023 by van der Linden and three colleagues replicated the well-established finding that conservatives deem false headlines to be true more often than liberals—but found that the difference drops by half when people are compensated for accuracy. Some studies have reported smaller or more inconsistent effects, but the central point still stands. There may be people who believe in fake news the way they believe in leopards and chairs, but underlying many genuine-feeling endorsements is an understanding that they’re not exactly factual.

Van der Linden, Berinsky, and Thagard all offer ways to fight fabrication. But, because they treat misinformation as a problem of human gullibility, the remedies they propose tend to focus on minor issues, while scanting the larger social forces that drive the phenomenon. Consider van der Linden’s prescription. He devotes roughly a third of “Foolproof” to his group’s research on “prebunking,” or psychological inoculation. The idea is to present people with bogus information before they come across it in the real world and then expose its falsity—a kind of epistemic vaccination. Such prebunking can target specific untruths, or it can be “broad-spectrum,” as when people are familiarized with an array of misinformation techniques, from emotional appeals to conspiratorial language.

Prebunking has received an extraordinary amount of attention. If you’ve ever read a headline about a vaccine against fake news, it was probably about van der Linden’s work. His team has collaborated with Google, WhatsApp, the Department of Homeland Security, and the British Prime Minister’s office; similar interventions have popped up on Twitter (now X). In “Foolproof,” van der Linden reviews evidence that prebunking makes people better at identifying fake headlines. Yet nothing is mentioned about effects on their actual behavior. Does prebunking affect medical decisions? Does it make someone more willing to accept electoral outcomes? We’re left wondering.

The evidential gap is all the trickier because little research exists in the first place showing that misinformation affects behavior by changing beliefs. Berinsky acknowledges this in “Political Rumors” when he writes that “few scholars have established a direct causal link” between rumors and real-world outcomes. Does the spread of misinformation influence, say, voting decisions? Van der Linden admits, “Contrary to much of the commentary you may find in the popular media, scientists have been extremely skeptical.”

So it’s possible that we’ve been misinformed about how to fight misinformation. What about the social conditions that make us susceptible? Van der Linden tells us that people are more often drawn to conspiracy theories when they feel “uncertain and powerless,” and regard themselves as “marginalized victims.” Berinsky cites scholarship suggesting that conspiratorial rumors flourish among people who experience “a lack of interpersonal trust” and “a sense of alienation.” In his own research, he found that a big predictor of accepting false rumors is agreeing with statements such as “Politicians do not care much about what they say, so long as they get elected.” A recent study found a strong correlation between the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and levels of governmental corruption; in those beliefs, Americans fell midway between people from Denmark and Sweden and people from middle-income countries such as Mexico and Turkey, reflecting a fraying sense of institutional integrity. More than Russian bots or click-hungry algorithms, a crisis of trust and legitimacy seems to lie behind the proliferation of paranoid falsehoods.

Findings like these require that we rethink what misinformation represents. As Dan Kahan, a legal scholar at Yale, notes, “Misinformation is not something that happens to the mass public but rather something that its members are complicit in producing.” That’s why thoughtful scholars—including the philosopher Daniel Williams and the experimental psychologist Sacha Altay—encourage us to see misinformation more as a symptom than as a disease. Unless we address issues of polarization and institutional trust, they say, we’ll make little headway against an endless supply of alluring fabrications.

From this perspective, railing against social media for manipulating our zombie minds is like cursing the wind for blowing down a house we’ve allowed to go to rack and ruin. It distracts us from our collective failures, from the conditions that degrade confidence and leave much of the citizenry feeling disempowered. By declaring that the problem consists of “irresponsible senders and gullible receivers,” in Thagard’s words, credulity theorists risk ignoring the social pathologies that cause people to become disenchanted and motivate them to rally around strange new creeds.

Mike Hughes was among the disenchanted. Sure, he used Flat Earth theory to become a celebrity, but its anti-institutionalist tone also spoke to him. In 2018, while seeking funding and attention for his next rocket ride, he self-published a book titled “ ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes: The Tell All Tale.” The book brims with outlandish, unsupported assertions—that George H. W. Bush was a pedophile, say—but they’re interspersed with more grounded frustrations. He saw a government commandeered by the greedy few, one that stretched the truth to start a war in Iraq, and that seemed concerned less with spreading freedom and more with funnelling tax dollars into the pockets of defense contractors. “You think about those numbers for a second,” he wrote, of the amount of money spent on the military. “We have homelessness in this country. We could pay off everyone’s mortgages. And we can eliminate sales tax. Everyone would actually be free.”

Hughes wasn’t a chump. He just felt endlessly lied to. As he wrote near the end of his book, “I want my coffee and I don’t want any whipped cream on top of it, you know what I mean? I just want this raw truth.” ♦

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Key facts about the abortion debate in America

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade – the decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years – has shifted the legal battle over abortion to the states, with some prohibiting the procedure and others moving to safeguard it.

As the nation’s post-Roe chapter begins, here are key facts about Americans’ views on abortion, based on two Pew Research Center polls: one conducted from June 25-July 4 , just after this year’s high court ruling, and one conducted in March , before an earlier leaked draft of the opinion became public.

This analysis primarily draws from two Pew Research Center surveys, one surveying 10,441 U.S. adults conducted March 7-13, 2022, and another surveying 6,174 U.S. adults conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. Here are the questions used for the March survey , along with responses, and the questions used for the survey from June and July , along with responses.

Everyone who took part in these surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories.  Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

A majority of the U.S. public disapproves of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. About six-in-ten adults (57%) disapprove of the court’s decision that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion and that abortion laws can be set by states, including 43% who strongly disapprove, according to the summer survey. About four-in-ten (41%) approve, including 25% who strongly approve.

About eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (82%) disapprove of the court’s decision, including nearly two-thirds (66%) who strongly disapprove. Most Republicans and GOP leaners (70%) approve , including 48% who strongly approve.

Most women (62%) disapprove of the decision to end the federal right to an abortion. More than twice as many women strongly disapprove of the court’s decision (47%) as strongly approve of it (21%). Opinion among men is more divided: 52% disapprove (37% strongly), while 47% approve (28% strongly).

About six-in-ten Americans (62%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the summer survey – little changed since the March survey conducted just before the ruling. That includes 29% of Americans who say it should be legal in all cases and 33% who say it should be legal in most cases. About a third of U.S. adults (36%) say abortion should be illegal in all (8%) or most (28%) cases.

Generally, Americans’ views of whether abortion should be legal remained relatively unchanged in the past few years , though support fluctuated somewhat in previous decades.

Relatively few Americans take an absolutist view on the legality of abortion – either supporting or opposing it at all times, regardless of circumstances. The March survey found that support or opposition to abortion varies substantially depending on such circumstances as when an abortion takes place during a pregnancy, whether the pregnancy is life-threatening or whether a baby would have severe health problems.

While Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on the legality of abortion have long differed, the 46 percentage point partisan gap today is considerably larger than it was in the recent past, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling. The wider gap has been largely driven by Democrats: Today, 84% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from 72% in 2016 and 63% in 2007. Republicans’ views have shown far less change over time: Currently, 38% of Republicans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, nearly identical to the 39% who said this in 2007.

However, the partisan divisions over whether abortion should generally be legal tell only part of the story. According to the March survey, sizable shares of Democrats favor restrictions on abortion under certain circumstances, while majorities of Republicans favor abortion being legal in some situations , such as in cases of rape or when the pregnancy is life-threatening.

There are wide religious divides in views of whether abortion should be legal , the summer survey found. An overwhelming share of religiously unaffiliated adults (83%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do six-in-ten Catholics. Protestants are divided in their views: 48% say it should be legal in all or most cases, while 50% say it should be illegal in all or most cases. Majorities of Black Protestants (71%) and White non-evangelical Protestants (61%) take the position that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while about three-quarters of White evangelicals (73%) say it should be illegal in all (20%) or most cases (53%).

In the March survey, 72% of White evangelicals said that the statement “human life begins at conception, so a fetus is a person with rights” reflected their views extremely or very well . That’s much greater than the share of White non-evangelical Protestants (32%), Black Protestants (38%) and Catholics (44%) who said the same. Overall, 38% of Americans said that statement matched their views extremely or very well.

Catholics, meanwhile, are divided along religious and political lines in their attitudes about abortion, according to the same survey. Catholics who attend Mass regularly are among the country’s strongest opponents of abortion being legal, and they are also more likely than those who attend less frequently to believe that life begins at conception and that a fetus has rights. Catholic Republicans, meanwhile, are far more conservative on a range of abortion questions than are Catholic Democrats.

Women (66%) are more likely than men (57%) to say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling.

More than half of U.S. adults – including 60% of women and 51% of men – said in March that women should have a greater say than men in setting abortion policy . Just 3% of U.S. adults said men should have more influence over abortion policy than women, with the remainder (39%) saying women and men should have equal say.

The March survey also found that by some measures, women report being closer to the abortion issue than men . For example, women were more likely than men to say they had given “a lot” of thought to issues around abortion prior to taking the survey (40% vs. 30%). They were also considerably more likely than men to say they personally knew someone (such as a close friend, family member or themselves) who had had an abortion (66% vs. 51%) – a gender gap that was evident across age groups, political parties and religious groups.

Relatively few Americans view the morality of abortion in stark terms , the March survey found. Overall, just 7% of all U.S. adults say having an abortion is morally acceptable in all cases, and 13% say it is morally wrong in all cases. A third say that having an abortion is morally wrong in most cases, while about a quarter (24%) say it is morally acceptable in most cases. An additional 21% do not consider having an abortion a moral issue.

Among Republicans, most (68%) say that having an abortion is morally wrong either in most (48%) or all cases (20%). Only about three-in-ten Democrats (29%) hold a similar view. Instead, about four-in-ten Democrats say having an abortion is morally  acceptable  in most (32%) or all (11%) cases, while an additional 28% say it is not a moral issue. 

White evangelical Protestants overwhelmingly say having an abortion is morally wrong in most (51%) or all cases (30%). A slim majority of Catholics (53%) also view having an abortion as morally wrong, but many also say it is morally acceptable in most (24%) or all cases (4%), or that it is not a moral issue (17%). Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, about three-quarters see having an abortion as morally acceptable (45%) or not a moral issue (32%).

• Religion & Abortion

What the data says about abortion in the U.S.

Support for legal abortion is widespread in many countries, especially in europe, nearly a year after roe’s demise, americans’ views of abortion access increasingly vary by where they live, by more than two-to-one, americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state, most latinos say democrats care about them and work hard for their vote, far fewer say so of gop, most popular.

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Beliefs and Characteristics of the Swinger Culture

This essay about swingers explores the concept and practices of swinging, or ‘the lifestyle,’ where individuals or couples participate in sexual activities with others as a form of consensual non-monogamy. Originating in the 1960s during the sexual revolution, swinging has evolved from secretive ‘wife swapping’ to a more organized and accessible social activity, facilitated by the internet. Participants often engage in swinging to explore sexual desires transparently, enhance communication, and introduce variety into their relationships. However, the lifestyle requires strong communication and trust, and not without risks and societal stigma. The essay examines both the personal and social implications of swinging, highlighting its challenges and the evolving perceptions of sexual relationships.

How it works

In the social sphere, swinging, often denoted as ‘the lifestyle’, represents a manifestation of non-monogamous relationships wherein individuals or pairs engage consensually in amorous endeavors with others, typically within recreational or communal environs. This phenomenon diverges markedly from conventional monogamous unions, offering an alternative avenue for intimacy and sexual expression. The spectrum of swinging encompasses diverse activities ranging from partner exchanges, triads, and group liaisons to more communal interactions such as attending swinger soirees and clubs.

The annals of swinging trace back several epochs, with its contemporary inception often tethered to the sexual revolution of the 1960s in the United States.

This epoch witnessed seismic shifts in societal attitudes towards carnality, catalyzed by the proliferation of contraceptives, the crusade for gender parity, and a general reevaluation of traditional mores. Originally christened ‘wife swapping’, the nascent days of swinging were clandestine affairs, primarily owing to the conservative ethos prevalent at the time. Military installations emerged as early bastions where swinging gained traction, perhaps due to the itinerant and insular nature of military life, which fostered close-knit communities and necessitated alternative social constructs.

As swinging metamorphosed, so did its public perception. By the 1970s and 1980s, private swinger clubs and gatherings began to surface more openly, with levels of discretion varying according to the prevailing social and legal milieu of distinct locales. Presently, the ubiquity of the internet has irrevocably revolutionized the swinger lifestyle, facilitating connectivity, experience sharing, and rendezvous arrangement. Niche dating platforms and forums cater exclusively to swingers, augmenting both the accessibility and diversity of available encounters.

The rationales prompting individuals to embrace swinging are as manifold as the participants themselves. For many, swinging affords an avenue to candidly explore sexual fantasies and proclivities with their partners sans deceit or compunction. It has the potential to fortify trust and communication within partnerships, necessitating explicit consent and candid discourse regarding boundaries and inclinations. Others perceive swinging as a means to inject dynamism into their sexual lives, combatting ennui, or even reconciling disparities in sexual appetites between partners.

Notwithstanding its burgeoning acceptance, swinging is not bereft of contention or hurdles. It demands a surfeit of communication and trust that not all relationships can withstand. Challenges such as jealousy and incongruent expectations may ensue, potentially complicating personal bonds. Furthermore, swingers often contend with societal censure and stigma. The veil of secrecy shrouding much of this lifestyle can foster misunderstandings and biases, depicting swingers as licentious or morally lax.

However, the swinging community tends to cultivate an inclusive ethos, prioritizing safety, consent, and reverence above all. Many swinger enclaves uphold stringent protocols pertaining to confidentiality, respectful conduct, and safer sexual practices, thereby fostering a conscientious and safeguarded milieu for all participants.

In summation, swinging as a lifestyle choice is intricate and multifaceted. It challenges entrenched norms surrounding relationships and fidelity, presenting an alternative, albeit more experimental avenue for sexual expression. While it may not resonate with everyone, swinging proffers a consensual, open conduit for exploring sexuality within a social paradigm that extols communication, candor, and mutual gratification. As societal attitudes continue to evolve, so too will the comprehension and endorsement of alternative relationship paradigms such as swinging.

This expedition into the realm of swingers not only elucidates the intricacies of the practice but also reflects broader shifts in societal perspectives towards marriage, sexuality, and companionship in the contemporary milieu.

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