Humans are, by nature, fundamentally flawed. You can go looking all of your life for a perfect human, but good luck, because you won’t find any. With any human comes the inevitable failure, the inescapable mistake, the unavoidable poor judgment, and the immutable consequences. With any living, breathing, human being come all the potential failure disappointment that you can imagine, all wrapped up in the neat little package that we call a person. So why do we choose to idolize any human being? What makes one person so special? If no one is perfect, then why do we take after certain people and admire their traits?

At first glance, all of these questions seem to lead to the opinion that taking idols is a pointless and futile mistake; that you should be your own person and never “imitate” anyone else. I am not going to deny that being yourself is one of the more important things to be. I am not going to say that you are wrong thinking that taking idols is dangerous, but although you may be an exception to this rule, people need faith, whether it be religion, science, the government, or simply, a person. People need a guide. Some are better than others, but that does not contradict their necessity.

Communists idolize Lenin, realizing that not everything he did was correct (at least the modern ones think this way), and that the USSR was not a favorable outcome, but nonetheless, they support him because of the good things he did. Christians take Jesus as their idol (more or less). Regardless of what you will say, they will never change their mind. Unfortunately, many young people take “gangsters” as their idols. Fascists idolize Hitler. For better or worse, people need idols, and they take idols to shape their own lives.

Regardless of “the facts,” faith in SOMETHING or ANYTHING can pull anyone through even the toughest of times. It doesn’t have to be completely factual. In fact, it can have absolutely no factual basis whatsoever, but faith in SOMETHING can be easily justified by its outcomes. Generally speaking, the natural tendency to take after other people satisfies the urge to have faith; to believe. It could be these small things that separate success from failure, push you through toward success.

That said, blindly following someone without acknowledging their mistakes is no solution either. So many simply take their idols and refuse to believe that they have ever done anything wrong. But since people shape themselves from their idols, they must learn from the mistakes of those they admire. As the old saying goes “Denial is not an ancient river in Egypt,” and it will get you nowhere.

In the end, you will never find a perfect human, because such terminology is an oxymoron. However, in stead of focusing on what people do wrong, focus on what they do RIGHT. Taking idols responsibly will only lead you to improve yourself; choosing poor idols will harm you and everyone around you. And although you could testify that no one is a good idol, those who constantly brood about human nature have completely missed the point and only make everyone miserable.

The bottom line is: don’t hate others for what they do wrong, admire others for what they do right.