2026 college essay contest: 4th place — Hendrick Ventura Andeliz
A country doesn’t need religion to be great
FFRF awarded Hendrick $2,000.
By Hendrick Ventura Andeliz
I strongly disagreed when I heard former President Donald Trump say, “You just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion.” As a nonbeliever, I can also confidently say that the statement is misguided when viewed from a wider lens. I believe that morality can be achieved without the structure of religion and that a great country must represent values like freedom, equality and civility, not religion.
To add more insight into my disagreement with Trump’s statement, I would cite the successful examples of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries are praised for their education systems, low crime rates, and even the highest rankings in health care and quality of life. A majority of people living in Sweden and Denmark are nonreligious, and it would be hard to argue that religion is what has built their societies into the great examples that they are.
Trump’s statements are insensitive to a core value on which America is based: religious tolerance. America was never intended to be a one-religion country. The First Amendment not only allows a person to hold a belief, but also the right to have no belief. This freedom is one of the reasons America has built a great international reputation. When politicians believe that religion is a prerequisite to make a country great, it makes nonreligious people feel like they are less American. Nonreligious people can be equally as patriotic and moral as religious people.
Nonreligious people’s sense of value and virtue should not be marginalized. I, along with many others, can be a caring and responsible person, but I believe the virtue is not a prerequisite for religion. Morality is subjective and doesn’t belong to any one religion. A person can develop the ability to be moral and to grasp right and wrong through life experiences and a caring, compassionate attitude toward others. These are important to be perceived as a moral society.
If religion alone were the answer to a good society, history would be very different. History is filled with terrible acts of violence and discrimination that used religion as a justification. The opposite of this, the advancement of equal rights and of an advanced society, has resulted from people not accepting religion as the ultimate authority and who challenged religion as a source of control. Promoting one religion as the dominant belief is not the answer to being great. Respecting all beliefs and encouraging independent thinking is the answer.
A country is at its best when its people feel a sense of belonging. Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists and every other group of people should feel equal. No one should ever feel like they are less than because they are not religious. A great country does not measure its greatness by the religion of its people, but by the amount of freedom and opportunity it provides its people. I think that the greatness of a country does not come from the people’s religion. Freedom, fairness and respect unite a country.
Hendrick, 24, attends American Military University and is majoring in criminal justice.
“Through my experience in structured, team-oriented environments, I have developed solid leadership skills, accountability, and the ability to perform effectively under pressure,” Hendrick writes. “I have a strong appreciation for travel and cultural exploration, and I maintain close ties with my family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, all of which have helped shape my perspective and sense of purpose.”
