With the holiday break almost over, I resume my doctoral studies later this week. I am actually pretty excited to get back to it, as I have thus far thoroughly enjoyed my return to academia. That being said, there is an upcoming assignment that has me thinking.

And I still have four days left before I am required to do this thinking stuff. But here goes…

The subject of a person’s worldview has me intrigued, and I am indeed….thinking. My original idea about worldviews only encompassed the raw definition residing in my head, which was, “how one sees the world through one’s own eyes.” Okay, I also realized that a person’s upbringing, beliefs (religion, spirituality, or lack thereof), geographical location, philosophy of life, family, and academic knowledge also aid in shaping their worldview. After doing quite a bit of reading and research, I realized I did not know there are a vast amount of defined and an endless amount of undefined worldviews in our, um, world.

News Flash and chronic understatement follows:

We are not all the same!

I know, Lucy! It boggles the mind!

If only that were the end of my thinking on this. I told myself, “Self, just accept it and move on.” And I did, for the most part. And then that little irritating part of my brain that won’t let me “move on,” so to speak, just kept slapping me with questions and emotions and heartburn (that last thing was actually from the BBQ I ate for supper).

But the questions and emotions kept coming….

So, since we are not all alike, why are there so many freaking people in this country opposed to others not exactly like them? If it is a well-known fact (and it is) that we are not the same, that means we are not supposed to be the same, doesn’t it? And, if your religious beliefs are that we are made in God’s image, then that makes ALL of us the same, even though we are not the same. Seems clear enough.

Ah, but if only that really explained everything.

What about all those people who are not religious? Are they all going to hell? Do you have any idea how many people in this world are not religious? I don’t know exactly, but there is a shitload. And what about those people who are spiritual but not in the Christianity way, such as Buddhism, and Native American tribal beliefs. Are those people all going to hell?

Hard to send them to hell when they don’t believe in it in the first place. And the fact that sending people to hell is totally out of our paygrade. It is just too ridiculous to fathom.

All the research I’ve done so far has been fascinating. I am a person with an open mind, and I accept that our world is not mine alone, and I am but one very lucky human to still remain above ground, enjoying this wondrous miracle called life. My religious beliefs are private, and you will not hear or read me shouting them to the world. However, I firmly believe in the shouters, the worshipers, and yes, the non-worshipers, as well as those enlightened by science and our ecosystem.

We are the same, in that we are all not the same. It’s quite beautiful, when you think about it. Can’t we celebrate that, instead of…..well, you know as well as I do that we need to do some work in this area. I just ask that we all do some thinking. Couldn’t hurt. Oh! And did you know you can actually have more than one worldview? In fact, you can have lots! Boggles my brain, I tell ya. I love this stuff.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Sometimes I am funny. Sometimes I’m informative. Sometimes I’m just reflective, as we all are. I hope you will return again and again, as you are ALL welcome here, whatever your worldview! (Unless, of course, you choose to spread hate. If that’s the case, please move on.)