Warning: This article is full of opinions. Don't like, don't read.

When I was a small girl, around elementary or middle school, I had a very closed-minded view of the world. I believed in God, in Judaism, and that Jesus was a bad man. (Please do not take offense. I have since learned better than this.) I would argue with others, shout them out as wrong, and assert that only my way was right.

Then, around the middle of my high school years, all that changed. I began to doubt my views, all of them. While I still argued over my beliefs, my arguments teetered off. I began to listen. I began to wonder why I believed this and why I acted this way.

The 2016 election has helped my mind process my views, by making me question why I couldn't accept either of the main candidates. Tonight, after a conversation with a friend of my family, I finally figured out what exactly it is that makes me tick.

For starters, not only do I no longer believe in God (I haven't really for years now) but I also don't believe that people with different beliefs are in the wrong. Everyone is different and everyone needs something different. Some people need religion; some people need science. Some people need scripture; some people just need an idea of what's around them.

I feel my views are somewhat similar to those of the North American natives. Modern civilization is quite wasteful and disrespectful to the environment. Of course, this does not mean everyone is wasteful or disrespectful to the environment, but, as the family friend asserted, the mob rules this world.

Let me take a slight detour to movies. A while ago, on Facebook, I saw a video with a message that spoke to me about movies. Think of Star Wars, Hunger Games, Divergent, Star Trek, even Harry Potter. All of these franchises are about a small group of heroes who fight back against the "bad guys" based on their beliefs and change the world because of them. In these franchises, the heroes, "the good guys," always win.

Now think of the real world. Think of terrorism and history. Many people have been killed simply because of their beliefs. They've also been killed for fighting back against the majority. During the crusades, many Christians were killed for not following the strict rules of the Church. Many of other religions were also prosecuted for these reasons. Same with the Holocaust. (Same with right now, actually.) Now think 9/11 and the war the USA is waging in the Middle East. Think of the Refugee Crisis as well. The US is fighting ISIS in Syria with airstrikes. How many innocent Syrians have been killed by those airstrikes again? I believe the answer is "too many to count." Also how long has the US been sticking their nose in other countries' business? I don't know. I don't think many of you do either.

Why exactly are we involving ourselves in the strife in the Middle East again? Did it ever occur to you that our involvement might have caused that strife? I haven't really done my research, but if the war in Iraq or Afghanistan started due to the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001, why are we still there fifteen years later? I mean, yeah, it was bad, but how do or did we know Iraq or Afghanistan were behind that attack? Are the actions of a few men reason enough to attack an entire country?

Right now, Syrians are fleeing their country, their home, because of the US. We think we're doing the right thing, but is it really the right thing if innocent people are forced to leave their homes with the choice of dying in the attempt to reach safety, or dying where they stand during their daily lives?

Now it might sound like I'm being unreasonable, but these are questions that need to be asked. If you go to Syria, and ask why the US airstrikes are happening, they won't say the same thing Americans will. Something along the lines of "they're waging a war against Islam," maybe.

Place yourselves in the shoes of those in the Middle East for a minute. For many of them, they have lived their entire lives in fear of the US. Why? Aren't we the "good guys?"

In my opinion, we're not. At least the government isn't acting as the "good guys." That may seem anti-government, but it's not. I'm questioning their actions, not their foundations.

Back to the election. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I might be wrong, but I haven't heard either of them say anything about stopping the war in the Middle East, possibly stepping aside or acting as a mediator rather than an authority figure.

Throughout life, I have learned that mediation is the best way to go. I've learned it's wrong to believe I'm the only one that's right, and that you should listen to your enemy and learn from them. Put yourself in someone else's shoes.

So why is the US government so keen on stepping in and pushing their beliefs on someone else? And killing those who don't agree with them?

My number one question right now is: Why is a country held to a lesser standard when dealing with conflict than an individual? To clarify, why don't we, as a country, mediate rather than wage war? Why don't we, as a country, view each opinion as equal rather than choose sides? Why don't we, as a country, put ourselves in another's shoes?

My point is: We need to listen to our enemy. They're not always in the wrong. Their actions might be extreme, but so are ours. They act based on the past, so do we.

For heaven's sake! We need to forget the past and calm down or we'll never move on and we'll never achieve world peace! The world's largest countries need to stop holding grudges against each other. World peace is said not to be possible. It certainly isn't as long as world leaders treat each other like little kids.

When I was little, I didn't understand this. Now I do. I'm not a little kid any more. Our generation needs to be the one to make change—to step back, to listen to our enemies, to mediate, to work out our problems as civilized adults.

It is possible to achieve a higher standard. World peace might be an infinity's reach away, but we can certainly get close. However, we can only reach the maximum amount of peace if we listen.

In my senior project in high school, I said I believed the only way to colonize Mars was to work together, similar to the International Space Station. It's the same for the world. It's the same for all sorts of subjects.

If I say any more, I think this article will go on forever. For those who read this entire piece, thank you, and I apologize for ranting for so long. This isn't even everything I wanted to say.