Can it all be true?

My purpose for this blog is not to start fights, alienate friends or feed my ego. Within the context of love, grace and mercy, it is for us to discuss the similarities and differences between our own personal worldviews, where they come from and why we live and do life according to them. Many times we don't think about it too often but our actions and decisions are evidence to the influence of worldviews in every person on this planet. Because I do not want this to be a pure academic or theoretical blog, I want us to then discuss what we do in real life practical application when our worldviews clash. Sometimes this clash is external, between two different people with two different worldviews, but often the clash can be internal when a person must struggle and choose between two different worldviews that are opposed within. I will explain this further below.


Merriem-Webster defines a worldview very simply as, "the way someone thinks about the world". We all have worldviews imposing on us that compete for our primary attention. Our worldview is evident through our actions more so than our words. Our worldview is critical because it is what forms our values, directs our thoughts and influences our decisions more than anything else in our lives.


From my experience, I believe that every person has multiple worldviews competing for authority in their life. Everyone learns from an early age the worldview or culture that is initially inherited from their family/ local community. This could contain a range of ideals from religion to social to basic philosophy. When we then go to school, we are then immersed in an institution that more formally teaches us what is expected of us and branches in the areas of science and politics as well. In the school yard, we are taught informally through our interactions how to act in a community. We learn how to interact with or avoid those from a different socio-demographics, we learn about hierarchy and authority (from the 'popular' people down to the 'losers'), we begin to express injustices when we feel wronged. This is where we learn to discriminate where we like it or not. We learn how to relate with other genders and what we can and cannot do in those relationships. We then become adults and either study at university or go off to work. On the university campuses, we are bombarded with academic philosophy and many of the trappings of the world including s*x, drugs and whatever else (if we were not already exposed to it in high school). My of us from a western culture at this point feel that what we believe is right and anything that opposes my personal view might be good for others but not for me. We are tolerant toward other views until they call into question our personal views. There is no accountability for our value structure expected and none given (outside of the law). We literally create our own moral laws.

Is this correct? How can we know that what influenced us through our childhood was good for us and truthful? What is to say that a worldview that is in opposition to mine is wrong and mine is right? Is there a moral benchmark or is it all relative? Even though post modernism has taught us in the west that every philosophy can co-exist and truth is relative, is that true? If I don't believe that statement is true than is cannot be true. It must therefore be false which concludes that every philosophy cannot co-exist and there must be absolute truth out there somewhere.

I have lived amongst and been exposed to many worldviews or cultures including animism, communism, atheism, capitalism, Buddhism, Islam, nominal Christianity, secular humanism, Hinduism, polytheism, socialism, materialism, naturalism, spiritualism, agnosticism, relativism, etc. This by no means makes me an expert on them all but it does cause me to questions which one is best; which one is most likely to contain the truth. When they intrude into your life, you are placed in a position where you cannot remain neutral and you must make a decision on where or not you will incorporate these ideals into your world. In the postmodern philosophy that has infiltrated our western culture; we are expected to believe that absolute tolerance is the only worthwhile ideal and that every worldview is correct. We are expected to agree that everyone's opinion is right and truthful, for them. In my experience from living and traveling on three different continents, I have a very hard time believing relativism is even a legitimate viable worldview. As I said earlier, every worldview cannot possibly co-exist on a philosophical level. This is not to say that we cannot live peacefully with respect for one another.  

I cover many topics in this blog including current affairs, cultural struggles in a developing world, science, religion and ethics. Throughout it all, I want to touch on the academic and theoretical but more importantly I want to look and discuss with you real life application. For the sake of integrity, I will also disclose that my current primary worldview is theistic and more specifically biblical in nature. For this I do not apologize because of all the worldviews I have been exposed to so far, this worldview appears most truthful in life application.

I do not wish to individually judge every worldview via a detailed analytical investigation in this blog. My intention is to simply find the truth and how I can apply that in my daily life. My hope is to then live it out amongst my family and community so that I can ultimately pass it on as legacy to my children, grandchildren and future generations.

I'd love for you to join me in this discovery!