|
(2016
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2016 (index to #2 samples) #2a: Short Essay (Favorite Passage) |
 |
Michael Bradshaw
Tolerance through Fortitude (Essay 2a.)
“[6] I
believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.
[7] I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties
consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our
fellow-creatures happy.
[8] But, lest it should be supposed that I believe in many other things in
addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I
do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.
[9] I
do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the
Roman [Catholic] church, by the Greek [Orthodox] church, by the Turkish
church [<Muslim or Islamic], by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I
know of. My own mind is my own church.
[10] All national institutions of churches,
whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish [Muslim], appear to me no other than
human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power
and profit.
[11] I
do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they
have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary
to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity [lack
of faith] does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in
professing to believe what he does not believe.” – Thomas Paine:
The Age of Reason.
This is my favorite passage that I have read this semester, and it underlines a
philosophy by which I try to live Its message of tolerance resonates with me
more than the condemnation found in the passages of the more “religious” texts
read in this class. . Paragraph eleven especially teaches me to allow others to
believe how they will, but always be true to my own beliefs.
Paine begins by listing the things that he does believe; he believes that there
is one God, and he hopes that there is something beyond this life. This is a
belief I do not know if I still share, but I wholeheartedly agree with paragraph
seven where he states, “I believe that religious duties consist in doing
justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy.”
(Paine, 7). This seems to boil down most religions down into their most basic
tenants. It is a secular Golden Rule.
Paine then does something that I find very bold, especially in the timeframe in
which he wrote this piece; Paine declared that he did not believe in the
doctrine of any organized religion, professing that “My own mind is my church.”
(Paine, 9). While the Salem Witch
Trials were nearly a century in the past, professing nonbelief in the church was
still a radical idea. Granted, many other academics were beginning to harbor
similar beliefs, but the church was still a powerful entity. He takes his
statements even further by saying, “All national institutions of churches… no
other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and
monopolize power and profit.” (Paine, 10). That is a controversial statement
even now. How much more must it have been in Paine’s time?
To have the fortitude to put his name on a statement like the one he made in
paragraph ten, Paine must have truly believed the words he wrote that “It is
necessary for the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself,”
(Paine, 11). It is in paragraph eleven that he writes what I have tried to adopt
as my philosophy. To have tolerance for the beliefs of others while being true
to my own is a goal I constantly strive to achieve. If others did the same, I
believe the world would be better for it.
