Believe it or not, you can be friends with people who have different views than you. Some of my friends have the complete opposite ideas, opinions, and views as me. It’s not okay to put someone down and treat them like they are wrong simply because they think differently than you.

We were all raised differently, we all weren’t born in the same place, and even if that is the case, when you grow up, you grow into your beliefs and views. You could grow up Christian and just not be religious. Just because you grow up in that environment doesn’t mean that’s who you are.

Some people are easily swayed and influenced which makes them change their views all the time, or it can make them be stuck in their views and ways. Some people choose not to explore other things and just stick with what they learned from the start and some people want to explore other opinions and options in the world. I, for one, am not what I grew up around. I am not a Christian, I am not religious, and I don’t even believe in God. I am very spiritual, open-minded, and not dead set in my ways.

I believe in being a good human being more than anything and just being optimistic and loving. I didn’t grow up in a very open-minded home, when I first let it be known that I did not believe in God and did not want to live in the path of Christ, my family wasn’t very approving. My mother always said we can believe what we want, it was my brother that was disapproving of it. I grew up going to church and attending church camp every summer, so yes I have opened my eyes to Christ, I just choose not to go down that path with my life.

My family is pretty traditional on views such as marriage, kids, religion, and views. I am a pretty open-minded, spiritual, optimistic, feminist that hates sexism. So many people in my life don’t believe in what I do and that is totally okay. I do not shame people who have a religion, who do believe in anti-feminist and sexist ways. Ultimately, I cannot change their mind. I can be around them and live my life, but they are going to decide how and who they are in the world.

I am open-minded I can have friends that hate feminism and hate my views, but for some reason, that doesn’t phase me. It has no effect on me. How they raise their children, how they walk through life isn’t attacking me, not because it couldn’t, but because I’m friends with people for who they are as a person. And if they are a good person, then I don’t think their kid will grow up being mean just because he is sexist. That’s just a view. He would keep his views to himself.

The moral of the story is if you have a different opinion that doesn’t mean the other person is wrong. Be nice and realize how many people are in the world and how different every single person is. Just appreciate the difference, don’t put people down. In the end, you don’t know what is good or bad, we don’t know if there is a god or if there is a hell. We don’t know any of this, but instead, we know how to be good, nice, caring people. So why don’t we spread love instead of hate, why don’t we welcome difference in opinion? Appreciate individuality.