Critical Thinking

She was Catholic, deeply committed to her faith. He, on the other hand, was not baptized, not even religious in any sense. Yet, to get married in the church, he had to undergo a multi-year process of religious instruction and baptism. It was a long, grueling journey, done only to meet the requirement for a church wedding. This story isn’t uncommon, and it baffles me. In what world do we ask someone we supposedly love to endure such an ordeal just for a ceremony? At best, it feels egotistical. How can that be an act of love when one partner is talked into converting to a religion they don’t believe in? It’s a façade—for what? If either of them had exercised intellectual honesty, they wouldn’t have gone through with it. ...

I’ve always lived a little differently—not because I was trying to stand out, but because it was natural for me to question things, seek better solutions, and make decisions that felt right for me. It wasn’t until adulthood, though, when life became more complicated, that I realized how much these instincts had shaped my life. More importantly, I started to notice how many people don’t live this way—and how that leads to a lot of avoidable mistakes and frustrations. ...