The Power of Religion

During day two of the Civil Rights trip, we started our day off by attending and participating in Sunday church. As someone who is not very religious and often looks past the value of religion, I was not overly excited to attend; however, as the service continued, I began to see the importance. As the God worshiping and loving hymns shifted into words of wisdom by the Reverend, I awoken. As derived from theological script, the lessons that Reverend preached were of respect, virtuousness, and human rights. Granted, some aspects of Christianity have been used to promote bigotry, but it seemed the Reverend had a different interpretation, one with rights for all— irrespective of color, religion, and sexuality. Furthermore, after talking to Andrew Young, one thing especially resonated with me. It was the notion that without theology and faith, Civil Rights cannot be achieved. Perhaps the most powerful lesson of religion is hope. However discouraging their progress may have been, once the activists had hope imbedded in them, nothing could knock them off their course. They were resilient, and this level of hope must be achieved by something powerful. For those who aren’t religious, it may be harder for them to find such a tautological ideal, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. “Possibility” is the very backbone of the movement; you just have to find that something that allows you to believe in it.

-Okezie