Shaped by a “can do” spirit.

Question: What forces have shaped humanity most?

Robert Menendez: I think the desire of mankind to be fundamentally free; to be able to fulfill their God-given potential; the desire to be able to advance. In broad terms, I think that has shaped history over centuries. I think religion has also obviously, till this day, shaped humanity. And today we’re in a whole different era which we had become to believe in the Western world that there is a secular side, and there is a religious side, and that there is a divide between that. And we don’t understand why others in the world are driven in a way in which they are driven by their religious beliefs – very fervent religious beliefs. And so I think religion over history has taken us . . . has been part of shaping our experience, and is still involved in shaping our human experience. I think the struggle for freedom in all of its manifestations . . . I think those are two great forces that have shaped history over time and continue to shape history today.