World Views

In my last post I wrote about the four major ways to view the world. Some of my readers found it confusing. Poor writing always confuses so let me try to explain my interest in writing about these things.

I am trained as an Educator and Clinical Counselor. The foundational world views that underlie form the foundation of my life will always come out in the ways I treat people. For example, Secular Humanism does not believe that humans are any more important than a beetle or a worm. This is why some persons can argue that unborn babies have no intrinsic value and can be offed without any guilt or remorse.

On the other hand, I am convinced that God created the world and gave humans a special spark of Himself. Since all humans carry "the imago Dei" or image of God they are intrinsically of worth and value. To kill any person is fraught with danger and to kill innocent persons is especially odious.

This does not mean that all Secular Humanists are killers and have no conscience. But it does mean that a different world view informs their conscience. The philosophy that guided the most virulent pro abortionists was based on the idea that certain races were inferior and should be eliminated or at least reduced in number. Hitlers' "Final Solution" also arose from a world view that held some to be less worthy than others.

Think about it.

If you have a high view of all humans then your philosophy probably comes either consciously or unconsciously fro Judeo Christian ideals. Almost every charity hospital in the world arose from Judeo Christian thought. As C.S. Lewis said, "Nothing proves Christianity better than a hospital."

What about racist, slave owning Christians? They separated their daily behavior from their faith. The had to change the biblical story. The people in South Africa who treated Black Africans so terribly actually had to alter their basic theology to agree with their sinful actions.

This happens all the time, of course, for humans are quite creative in their application of biblical principles. Just look at how we have altered the Bible's teachings on sex, financial ethics and family life. But being inconsistent with a biblical world view does not make that view wrong. However, applying a Judeo Christian world view consistently can be challenging and lead to a lot of mercy toward those of us who fail.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and most other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were Christian Ministers. They were building on the shoulders of the Christian men and women who led the Second Great Awakening. These people provided the motivation, energy and demand that slavery be ended in America.

Christianity always leads to change.


Gary Sweeten