Worldviews and how we can live together with diverging views of human life
I tend to avoid talking about politics publicly, especially from the pulpit. I think that is generally inappropriate. It is important to talk about the Christian principles that should guide our politics, but (for example) I don’t think it is appropriate for me to tell people how to vote.
It is important, however, that we try to understand the times we are in from a Christian point of view. There are a number of movements in our society right now that are in need of analysis so that we, as Christians, know how to approach these issues, or at least have a framework for trying to think about these issues. This is my attempt to think through some of these things. I may be the only one to benefit from these musings, and I’m okay with that.
I have found the concept of “worldview” to be helpful. (I think the philosopher Charles Taylor uses the idea of “social imaginary”). (An interesting book on worldviews is “The Universe Next Door” by James Sire). A worldview is made up of a number of beliefs and attitudes that make up a kind of lens through which we see life. Often it is like an accent. We don’t really notice we have an accent until we bump into someone who has a different accent. When that happens it’s not unusual for people to assume that they speak “normally” and it is the other person who has the accent. Similarly, our worldview is made up of a set of assumptions about life that are often unquestioned until we bump into someone who has a different set of assumptions.
To think about our worldview we need to ask what our unquestioned assumptions about life are? What seems so obviously true that we don’t even feel the need to explain why we hold it to be true? What is at the top of our hierarchy of values? How we spend out time and money will hint towards our values. The stories we watch and listen to will show our values. The types of relationships we have will expose our values. What gives life meaning? What counts as a successful life? A worldview gives direction and meaning to life. James Sire defines a worldview as-
“a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) that we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (Sire, p20).
Sire says a worldview will answer eight basic questions:
1. What is prime reality- the really real? (God, gods, the physical universe? …)
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? (Is the world designed by a Creator or independent of such a being? Is it chaotic or orderly? Do we emphasize matter or spirit? Do we emphasize our subjective personal experience of the world, or do we consider the objective to be something we emphasize? ...)
3. What is a human being? (A highly complex biological machine? A type of ape? A person made in the image of God? Generally oriented towards the good or the bad? ...)
4. What happens to a person at death? (We just end and our atoms are recycled by nature? We are transformed to a higher state? Reincarnation? Departure to a spirit world? …)
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? (We are imbued with this ability having been made in the image of a rational God? Rationality developed by an evolutionary process to help us survive? … )
6. How do we know what is right and wrong? (We are made in the image of God whose character is good? It is determined by societal trends and choices? It is determined by what feels good? It is what helps humans, or individuals survive? … )
7. What is the meaning of human history? (To realize the purposes of God or the gods? To make a utopia on earth? To prepare for an eternal life with a loving and holy God? … )
8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview? (To fulfill the will of God? To realize personal potential for experiencing life? To do as much good as they can for others? … )
These worldviews might be labeled in a number of ways: Christian theism, Deism, Naturalism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Eastern Pantheistic Monism, New Age Spirituality, Postmodernism, Islamic Theism, etc.
Before the last few hundred years, human societies tended to be fairly homogenous in having a shared worldview. So, 600 years ago if you travelled to rural England the people you found there would probably have a largely shared worldview. You would have to travel quite some distance before you found a substantially different worldview. Most places were like that. 600 years ago, if you travelled to South America, likewise, you would find people who had a largely shared worldview and would have to travel quite some distance before finding a substantially different worldview. Most people didn’t travel very far, so they weren’t usually confronted with different worldviews directly.
Now, however, through our ability to travel and through our technology, we are confronted with a number of worldviews. To be able to live together we need to have a shared space. This is a place of shared values where we can build a society together.
For example, consider the school system. Here in Canada we have the public school system and the Roman Catholic School system. Originally, so I have been told, the public school system was the Protestant school system. There was enough of a shared worldview among European settlers that the Bible weas read and the Lord’s Prayer was said as a part of classroom participation. The families who attended the public/Protestant school were Baptist, Anglican, Presbyterian, Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist (etc.), and while they had their differences (which they took very seriously) they also had shared values for the reading of the Bible in class and praying the Lord’s Prayer together (along with celebrating Christian festivals like Christmas and Easter). These things were possible in the shared space of educating children in the public school system. It would have probably been considered inappropriate for the teacher to teach a particular view of infant baptism, for example, because the various protestants differed on that- those views wouldn’t have overlapped enough in the shared space.
Worldviews began shifting as more people rejected Christianity and identified as atheists. Immigration also brought families who ascribed to other religions (Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, etc) to these formerly European settler communities. Suddenly, the shared space included more worldviews. It became uncomfortable for some families to have the Bible read in class and for the Lord’s Prayer to be prayed. The shared space had to be reshaped to accommodate more than a variety of Protestant Christian Views. This meant excluding Bible reading and The Lord’s Prayer from the shared space of the classroom. The shared space had to be reinvented.
Now this gets tricky. What is appropriate to be in that shared space? We have a pluralistic society that includes many worldviews and we agree that it is not appropriate for one worldview to overly exert itself on others.
Muslims rightfully would not appreciate Christianity being practiced in the classroom where their children are expected to participate. Christians rightfully would not appreciate their children being expected to participate in Muslim prayers. We would expect that a public school teacher would not teach their class that one religion is right and others are wrong.
As a society, we value tolerance. So, we respect the right of people to have different beliefs. We respect a Muslim’s right to attend the Mosque, to pray at the appropriate required times, and to believe that the Koran is the literal words of God when read in Arabic. As Christians, we can respect a Muslim’s right to believe these things while disagreeing and holding to our own beliefs. We can live in society together as long as we respect each other’s rights to believe differently. We do require some shared beliefs. For example, we must agree on following the Law if we want to have a shared society.
Worldviews include understandings of the meaning and purpose of human sexuality and gender. If a certain view of gender or sexuality is being taught in the classroom, then we might rightfully question if this is appropriate for a shared space where a variety of worldviews are intersecting. If one worldview’s belief about gender and sexuality is being taught, then a Muslim might rightfully feel that this worldview’s belief is being pushed on their children in the same way as they might feel reading from the Bible and praying the Lord’s Prayer is pushing Christian beliefs on their children in the classroom. They might feel that the school is teaching that the Muslim view of sexuality and gender is wrong (I understand that there is some diversity in this, especially among Western Muslims).
Traditional Muslims living in Canada might respect people’s right to think these things in their own lives, but the classroom might be an inappropriate shared space to teach these views because there isn’t enough overlapping belief among the various worldviews. For example, many traditional worldviews teach us to be very suspicious of our inner desires, and teach us restrain our sexual desires. But modern worldviews influenced by thinkers like Sigmund Freud teach us that restraining our sexuality (along with other inner desires) stands in the way of us realizing our true real self and finding happiness. These are opposing views of human life.
As we try to live together with a variety of worldviews, we are asking huge questions about what these shared spaces should include. If I disagree with a Muslim regarding their Prophet’s teaching, but respect their right to believe what they do, I am not “Islamaphobic”. But disagreeing with another worldview’s beliefs about sexuality and gender might get one labeled as “transphobic” or “homophobic”, even if we agree with a person’s right to think and practice a view of sexuality and gender that differs from our worldview.
I suspect that those with a more traditional worldview may need to consider the arising views on sexuality and gender as being a part of a new worldview and will have to learn to respect that worldview just as they tolerate others.
And I suspect that those who support the worldview that includes the arising views of sexuality and gender will need to respect the shared spaces and resist imposing their views on gender and sexuality and gender as right and the other worldviews as wrong.
I know this is all very abstract and we are dealing with people who are living real lives, so it can be hard to make the connections regarding living with people we care about who think differently than us. We are talking about our neighbours and friends and family, many of whom are hurting. We are in a time when worldviews are bumping into each other and there is a lack of willingness to listen to the pain many are in. But it is also important to recognize that these worldviews arise from philosophical, theological, and social movements. We feel our worldviews very personally, but these philosophical, theological, and social movements have opened the door to us experiencing life in a particular way. Ideas can have powerful consequences. We have to find a way to live together, and we have to think carefully about how we shape our shared spaces if we are going to thrive together.
It is important, however, that we try to understand the times we are in from a Christian point of view. There are a number of movements in our society right now that are in need of analysis so that we, as Christians, know how to approach these issues, or at least have a framework for trying to think about these issues. This is my attempt to think through some of these things. I may be the only one to benefit from these musings, and I’m okay with that.
I have found the concept of “worldview” to be helpful. (I think the philosopher Charles Taylor uses the idea of “social imaginary”). (An interesting book on worldviews is “The Universe Next Door” by James Sire). A worldview is made up of a number of beliefs and attitudes that make up a kind of lens through which we see life. Often it is like an accent. We don’t really notice we have an accent until we bump into someone who has a different accent. When that happens it’s not unusual for people to assume that they speak “normally” and it is the other person who has the accent. Similarly, our worldview is made up of a set of assumptions about life that are often unquestioned until we bump into someone who has a different set of assumptions.
To think about our worldview we need to ask what our unquestioned assumptions about life are? What seems so obviously true that we don’t even feel the need to explain why we hold it to be true? What is at the top of our hierarchy of values? How we spend out time and money will hint towards our values. The stories we watch and listen to will show our values. The types of relationships we have will expose our values. What gives life meaning? What counts as a successful life? A worldview gives direction and meaning to life. James Sire defines a worldview as-
“a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) that we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (Sire, p20).
Sire says a worldview will answer eight basic questions:
1. What is prime reality- the really real? (God, gods, the physical universe? …)
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? (Is the world designed by a Creator or independent of such a being? Is it chaotic or orderly? Do we emphasize matter or spirit? Do we emphasize our subjective personal experience of the world, or do we consider the objective to be something we emphasize? ...)
3. What is a human being? (A highly complex biological machine? A type of ape? A person made in the image of God? Generally oriented towards the good or the bad? ...)
4. What happens to a person at death? (We just end and our atoms are recycled by nature? We are transformed to a higher state? Reincarnation? Departure to a spirit world? …)
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? (We are imbued with this ability having been made in the image of a rational God? Rationality developed by an evolutionary process to help us survive? … )
6. How do we know what is right and wrong? (We are made in the image of God whose character is good? It is determined by societal trends and choices? It is determined by what feels good? It is what helps humans, or individuals survive? … )
7. What is the meaning of human history? (To realize the purposes of God or the gods? To make a utopia on earth? To prepare for an eternal life with a loving and holy God? … )
8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview? (To fulfill the will of God? To realize personal potential for experiencing life? To do as much good as they can for others? … )
These worldviews might be labeled in a number of ways: Christian theism, Deism, Naturalism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Eastern Pantheistic Monism, New Age Spirituality, Postmodernism, Islamic Theism, etc.
Before the last few hundred years, human societies tended to be fairly homogenous in having a shared worldview. So, 600 years ago if you travelled to rural England the people you found there would probably have a largely shared worldview. You would have to travel quite some distance before you found a substantially different worldview. Most places were like that. 600 years ago, if you travelled to South America, likewise, you would find people who had a largely shared worldview and would have to travel quite some distance before finding a substantially different worldview. Most people didn’t travel very far, so they weren’t usually confronted with different worldviews directly.
Now, however, through our ability to travel and through our technology, we are confronted with a number of worldviews. To be able to live together we need to have a shared space. This is a place of shared values where we can build a society together.
For example, consider the school system. Here in Canada we have the public school system and the Roman Catholic School system. Originally, so I have been told, the public school system was the Protestant school system. There was enough of a shared worldview among European settlers that the Bible weas read and the Lord’s Prayer was said as a part of classroom participation. The families who attended the public/Protestant school were Baptist, Anglican, Presbyterian, Reformed, Lutheran, Methodist (etc.), and while they had their differences (which they took very seriously) they also had shared values for the reading of the Bible in class and praying the Lord’s Prayer together (along with celebrating Christian festivals like Christmas and Easter). These things were possible in the shared space of educating children in the public school system. It would have probably been considered inappropriate for the teacher to teach a particular view of infant baptism, for example, because the various protestants differed on that- those views wouldn’t have overlapped enough in the shared space.
Worldviews began shifting as more people rejected Christianity and identified as atheists. Immigration also brought families who ascribed to other religions (Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, etc) to these formerly European settler communities. Suddenly, the shared space included more worldviews. It became uncomfortable for some families to have the Bible read in class and for the Lord’s Prayer to be prayed. The shared space had to be reshaped to accommodate more than a variety of Protestant Christian Views. This meant excluding Bible reading and The Lord’s Prayer from the shared space of the classroom. The shared space had to be reinvented.
Now this gets tricky. What is appropriate to be in that shared space? We have a pluralistic society that includes many worldviews and we agree that it is not appropriate for one worldview to overly exert itself on others.
Muslims rightfully would not appreciate Christianity being practiced in the classroom where their children are expected to participate. Christians rightfully would not appreciate their children being expected to participate in Muslim prayers. We would expect that a public school teacher would not teach their class that one religion is right and others are wrong.
As a society, we value tolerance. So, we respect the right of people to have different beliefs. We respect a Muslim’s right to attend the Mosque, to pray at the appropriate required times, and to believe that the Koran is the literal words of God when read in Arabic. As Christians, we can respect a Muslim’s right to believe these things while disagreeing and holding to our own beliefs. We can live in society together as long as we respect each other’s rights to believe differently. We do require some shared beliefs. For example, we must agree on following the Law if we want to have a shared society.
Worldviews include understandings of the meaning and purpose of human sexuality and gender. If a certain view of gender or sexuality is being taught in the classroom, then we might rightfully question if this is appropriate for a shared space where a variety of worldviews are intersecting. If one worldview’s belief about gender and sexuality is being taught, then a Muslim might rightfully feel that this worldview’s belief is being pushed on their children in the same way as they might feel reading from the Bible and praying the Lord’s Prayer is pushing Christian beliefs on their children in the classroom. They might feel that the school is teaching that the Muslim view of sexuality and gender is wrong (I understand that there is some diversity in this, especially among Western Muslims).
Traditional Muslims living in Canada might respect people’s right to think these things in their own lives, but the classroom might be an inappropriate shared space to teach these views because there isn’t enough overlapping belief among the various worldviews. For example, many traditional worldviews teach us to be very suspicious of our inner desires, and teach us restrain our sexual desires. But modern worldviews influenced by thinkers like Sigmund Freud teach us that restraining our sexuality (along with other inner desires) stands in the way of us realizing our true real self and finding happiness. These are opposing views of human life.
As we try to live together with a variety of worldviews, we are asking huge questions about what these shared spaces should include. If I disagree with a Muslim regarding their Prophet’s teaching, but respect their right to believe what they do, I am not “Islamaphobic”. But disagreeing with another worldview’s beliefs about sexuality and gender might get one labeled as “transphobic” or “homophobic”, even if we agree with a person’s right to think and practice a view of sexuality and gender that differs from our worldview.
I suspect that those with a more traditional worldview may need to consider the arising views on sexuality and gender as being a part of a new worldview and will have to learn to respect that worldview just as they tolerate others.
And I suspect that those who support the worldview that includes the arising views of sexuality and gender will need to respect the shared spaces and resist imposing their views on gender and sexuality and gender as right and the other worldviews as wrong.
I know this is all very abstract and we are dealing with people who are living real lives, so it can be hard to make the connections regarding living with people we care about who think differently than us. We are talking about our neighbours and friends and family, many of whom are hurting. We are in a time when worldviews are bumping into each other and there is a lack of willingness to listen to the pain many are in. But it is also important to recognize that these worldviews arise from philosophical, theological, and social movements. We feel our worldviews very personally, but these philosophical, theological, and social movements have opened the door to us experiencing life in a particular way. Ideas can have powerful consequences. We have to find a way to live together, and we have to think carefully about how we shape our shared spaces if we are going to thrive together.
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