Софија Манчева е автор на второнаградениот есеј за толеранција, духовни вредности и религиски разлики од конкурсот на YES Алумни Македонија при Американски Совети за Меѓународно Образование.Different, weird, or peculiar. These are the only words that people seem to know when talking about other religions. Whenever people talk about religion it’s always about the differences. No one talks about the fact that no matter which religion you are, if you pray on your knees on a colorful mat, or with your hands clasped tight around a cross,the things you are asking from your god are the same. You want your family to be healthy and happy, you pray for security and success,you find comfort and forgiveness. We are so blinded by our differences that we can’t see all the things we share. We can’t see that all of our religions are talking about absolution, faith and most importantly love. In the core of every religion is love. Love for God, our family and our friends.

Our religions try in a million ways to get this message across to us, but it’s like we can’t hear it. We discriminate and then use our religions as proof that we are right, without seeing that what they are telling us is vastly different than what we are doing in their name. There being a lot of religions is not the problem, it’s howpeople treat each other regardless of our beliefs, the compassion and help we give to those that need it that show the world the true beauty of every person in this world. The world will never stop being filled with pain and sufferings, if we continue down this path of discrimination and hate. How we will live our lives is in our hands, what words we speak either they are words of acceptance or of scorn, we have to realize than if we want to change this world for the better it has to start with changing ourselves. We have to let go of our judgment and prejudice, release them from our souls and fill up the spaces they leave behind with things that will benefit not only us but the whole world.

As the wise Gandhi once said where there is love there is life, all of us should take a moment to reflect what this means, to begin the path to understanding that our hate serves no purpose in our lives. Our hatred only weighs us down, doesn’t let us breathe and enjoy this life that we have been given. We only have this one life to make a difference on this world, it seems foolish to waste it on something silly like hate.