You know, as much as my school pushes the idea of redemption of our wayward peers through education and their subsequent reintegration into the student body without hard feelings or grudges, there are so many people on this Earth who never seem to learn. My own group practice's first tenet is "Always be kind" and believe me, it's very hard to practice these things, especially given how unaware most people are of their own acts of unkindness towards others. It may be because they hide behind "intention" rather than acknowledge and legitimize another person's feelings which is what I'm seeing here from a few people in particular.
@Golfah, none of us know any characteristics of who will be reading your application or interviewing you. We don't know how capable anyone is of acting in such a way that they're "objective" in the sense of not being influenced by their personal beliefs. And besides, I'm sure adcoms get bored reading the same insipid essays devoid of self-awareness and personal reflection over and over again. I've read a lot of essays over the years for all kinds of applications and the majority, even though most have come from people I intellectually respect, were incredibly shallow and in some cases came off as condescending and self-serving. No personality revealed, nothing personal, and devoid of anything that could possibly offend or alternatively, entice. Take some calculated risks.
When you get to the interview, read your interviewer. Mine seemed like a jolly and mischievous sort who'd enjoy hearing about my efforts to "stick it to the man, right under his nose" through discreet but personal charitable efforts to adults who have been abused by their fundamentalist communities and had escaped or were considering escaping. If my interviewer had been more dour, I wouldn't mention how much I love being subversive. I'd probably construct it as "the only morally upright option" with regard to my personal code of ethics or something more formal sounding. It's mostly about the tone in which you present it. As long as you read the situation well, you'll know which details to provide and which to leave out.
Have an end goal in mind too, like for me, helping others escape is about having compassion for people whose beliefs I personally find repugnant but still recognize their plight as another living being and assist them anyways because I don't blame them individually for having uninformed opinions and bigotry ingrained by their community as dogma. Dentistry doesn't want dogma. It wants people who are willing to critically evaluate evidence and change their practices and beliefs in accordance with new, quality information.
