Decency

In the chapter Church, a particular piece of dialogue stuck out to me. On page 115, Henry Dobbins says, "the thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn't the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that's all. Being decent." A few pages later, he reflects upon this again with his comment, "All you can do is be nice. Treat them [people] decent, you know?" The chapter touches upon the values that individuals hold important. All people may not find religion to be too important, but most people try to allow respect for others. As children, we are taught from a young age that we must treat others kindly. Dobbins' statements touched me because of the specific situation he found himself in. Think about it. He is part of the American troops fighting, meaning they cannot treat everyone kindly; they are there to win a war, so they may return home safely. The fact that they still believe in treating others with respect and kindness, even though hatred and misery surround them, surprises me. However, as I thought more about the origin of the comment, I realized this statement is truly a reflection of the authors'. This surprised me again because the war did not destroy his belief in the basic goodness of people.