In regard to question number one, why is there something rather than

nothing? nine out of my ten people answered that it, in some way, had something
to do with God or some higher power setting into existence. There was one person
who said that he did not know how the universe came to be. He actually said, I
dont know. I dont think anyone knows, and those who claim to know are either
lying or mistaken. I thought it was interesting that most people do not actually
believe that the world just came into existence by chance, instead, a god created it.
When I asked how they explained human nature, I received three types of answers.
The first is that man is naturally bad, which was given by half of my interviews.
However, a few of those people added that they are redeemed by the blood of Jesus
Christ, despite being intrinsically evil. Only one person answered that man is, in
himself, good. This person I later discovered would be defined as a humanist. The
last answer I received was that human nature did not have a moral aspect, it is
simply how nature causes a person to act. When it came to how the people
deciphered right from wrong in their own lives, I received four different areas of
answers. The majority of people said that they base their right from wrong on what
their mental conscience tells them is ok and what is not. The second largest answer
I received was that the Holy Spirit directs them in how to decide what is right and
what is wrong. One person actually said that the only things that he thinks are
morally wrong are things that are against the law. Apart from law, there is no sense
of morality in his mind. A few others believed that a persons morals come from the
way they were raised and the morals that were instilled in them by their parents.
The question about history was very universally similar, 80% said that the point in
history was to learn about the mistakes in the past so that man can grow from it.
The humanist had a different answer, which was that it is a compilation of mans
achievements, not failures. One person gave a very different and profound answer,
that I think was probably the best answer I received in the whole interview process,
She, a CCS employee said that the point in history is to see how events in the past,
like the old testament, pointed to and reflected Christ even before he came to earth.
The final question about the afterlife was very similar to the first question. The vast
majority believed that people go to some type of heaven or hell based on their life
on earth, or their faith in God. A couple of people believed that, at death, nothing
happens to a person at all. They simply cease to exist and their soul just ends. The
one whom I quoted in the first section said the following about the afterlife, I have
no idea. I do not completely deny the existence of an afterlife, but seeing as how
theres no way to really prove that there seems to be a lot of flaws with the
concepts of heaven and hell. I would say nothing happens after death. This is the
only life I got so Ill just live it to the fullest.
What I discovered from this assignment were two very disturbing main
things, one of which is that even people that I grew up with, in my Christian school,
with unbelievably similar upbringings, have profoundly different beliefs that are
completely contradictory to what I know they were taught. The next is that some
people that I know for a fact, live very unholy lives, gave answers that were almost
directly taken from the Bible. One of the examples of the first realization was a 17
year old male who went to school with me until we got into tenth grade. He believes
strongly in science and that there is no God and that everyone who believes

differently is pretending to know anything. This was very eye opening to the fact
that despite him being taught exactly what I know and having parents that believe
exactly what mine do, he was still able to deny the existence of a God. It makes me
wonder if sometimes, our school might let people slip through the cracks and not
fully teach every student to the full extent that we are all taught. Though it does
also show how many other beliefs and religions are treated as truth outside of the
bubble that we are educated in. He has only been in that environment for around
three years, and yet it has already changed all of his Christian beliefs. It was eye
opening to huge impact other belief systems have on the world, not just Christianity.
However, in complete contrast to the former point, I encountered many people who
live lives that are openly less than morally upright, yet believed in the Christian
morals I have been taught my whole life. What I learned from answers such as this,
was that despite not living out the life that the bible lays out for Christians, many
people see themselves as Christians. There were so many people who believe whole
heartedly in the God of the Christian faith and supposedly follow his leadership, yet
do practically nothing that lines up with the morals of the religion. What I learned
from these people who continuously, smoke weed, have premarital sex, and have
homosexual encounters, yet are Christians probably have chosen this faith
because of the perks of it. It has acceptance, love and forgiveness like no other
religion, therefore people are drawn to it, whether or not they actually believe in the
commands. Unfortunately, Christianity, for many people, it seems, is simply a
default religion. People accept the obvious morality aspects, such as murder and
etc., as well as the story behind creation and what does the afterlife look like. These
two discoveries, as well as others, were very discouraging because the people that I
asked, I knew on a personal level and it bothered me to hear some of their answers.
Despite this being an uncomfortable realization, I learned how extremely important
it is to understand what I believe and why I believe it because there are many
people around, even in my school, who do not have my same beliefs.