The Golden Rule

The horror that all started on January 30, 1933. The bravery of the men women and children that had experienced hell. The screaming and crying heard echoing down abandoned roads at night. During the time people were forced to make a decision, an ethical decision. Many men and women made the wrong decision. They were uninformed; they needed a scapegoat for the war. Less than 1 percent blamed for the poverty and famine that fell over the country. Millions died, thousands forgotten. We grow up with many different influences telling you right from wrong, good from bad. "I wouldn't support Hitler" "I would have helped people escape the war," but if you were considered Aryan, you probably wouldn't have. This ties back to influences, every time you read a book, listen to a story, talk to the people around you, you will pick up pieces of who you are.

No Child is born racist; No child is born sexist, not every child gets the chance to grow up with its opinion. With the people around them, they are forced into the racist thoughts the sexist actions. Their influences are going to feed them with the information they believe. That's what the problem is; it's going to be almost impossible to get rid of racism as a whole, to get rid of sexism as a whole because there is always going to be someone who is racist, who is sexist and that's what they will teach their kids. I will carry my beliefs in a little box with me forever, never letting it go, never losing it, just holding it tight and believing in it.

Elie Wiesel once said “Let us not forget, after all, that there is always a moment when the moral choice is made. Often because of one story or one book or one person, we are able to make a different choice, a choice for humanity, for life.” Growing up I've had multiple sources of influences: TV, Harry Potter, teachers, even just growing up in a big city alone could be one. Although the most significant influence is my parents, I was told from a young age to treat everyone equally, and no one was better than someone else based on their gender, race, or sexuality. In New York City I was exposed to many things, the "boyfriend" I had when I was six had two dads. Instead of pulling me away from this family like some would my parents couldn't care less. The golden rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” My mom always asked me this "how would you feel if they treated you this way"? This is a rule everyone should grow up with; religious or not this is one rule from the Bible that everyone can follow. A rule that almost no one followed during the Holocaust.