Believe Me When I Say..

Believing in something or simply having the freedom to believe in something is a very powerful concept. When someone says the statement “I believe that” or “I believe in” they are essentially putting every ounce of themselves into what they are about to say. To profess your belief in something is extremely profound because your belief will more often that not be met with opposition of equal measure. There are others who think and believe completely different to what you believe and that is what is so remarkable about a belief system. You can believe in whatever you want, who ever you want, or nothing at all for that matter because you have the right to.

I do think that in certain situations the use of the word believe can be detrimental to your argument. When making a logical appeal based on facts and knowledge the use of the statement “I believe that…” implies your personal feelings and sentiments, which could be seen as unprofessional and devastating to your sense of credibility. For instance, if someone was explaining research findings the use of ‘believe’ in their scientific works would completely destroy all credibility their argument had. Scientific research is based on tangible evidence and findings rather than what you believe to be true.  However, in other situations stating the same claim could enhance our argument by showing a level of passion and dedication to whatever topic, or subject or issue that you choose to stand behind and place your reputation on. For example, when endorsing a candidate or campaign, one might throw around the words “I believe that he or she embodies...”. When someone is willing to use such strong words as “I believe” they are implying that they are willing to risk their reputation and have their personal values questioned. They are opening themselves up for judgment and scrutiny just because they chose to be open about their beliefs, which happen to say a lot about you.

Personally, I believe certain things to be true. I believe in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died and rose for my sins. I believe respect is earned not given, I believe nothing in this life is given to you, you work for it. I believe every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. But most importantly I believe that what goes around comes back around and what you dish out will be given back unto you.