Understanding a personal worldview is not an easy task, and every person has his/her own time to get outside of this issue. I try to stay consequent in all my discussions not to confuse people and not to be confused by myself. As soon as spirituality is discussed in terms of pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism, it is easier to give the answers to the questions about prime reality, the nature of the world around, a human being, what happens after death, if it is possible to know everything, what is right and wrong, and what human history can mean.
Hebert (as cited in Bunkowske, 2005) describes worldview as “the basic assumptions about reality that lie behind the beliefs and behavior of culture” (p. 303). It means that a person should consider the general beliefs and prescriptions offered to society and rely on a personal understanding of a matter. Pluralists evaluate every culture and accept the existing diversity of meanings. Pluralism is an attempt to accept the fact that truth can be observed in many ways, and it is possible to accept several meanings of the same concept. On the one hand, I want to believe that it is normal to stay tolerant of different religions.
On the other hand, I find such approach as a personal inability to accept one truth and live according to it. I defined myself as a scientist, who believed that observations and experiments could be used as the evidence, for several years. Scientists are definite in their intentions to prove the truth. They know what they know and are ready to share their knowledge. Francis Bacon (as cited in Harcup, 2006) said that knowledge was power several centuries ago and changed the lives of many people. At the same time, being on the side of science in the war between spirituality and science (Chopra & Mlodinow, 2011), I am bothered by the inability to neglect the fact that something more than science can guide my life.
There should be one more concept between religion, pluralism, and scientism. I think that postmodernism is that crucial individualistic path that can be offered to people like me. Postmodernists replace truth with a personal opinion and the possibility to treat the same issues in a different way under different conditions (Speck & Hoppe, 2007).
Taking into consideration such understanding of spirituality and the necessity to consider the importance of personal opinion, I am not able to support the scientific position. I want to believe that God is a prime reality. For scientists, science is their God, for pluralists, diversity is their God. I want to think that there is something or someone, who observes my life, protects in cases of emergency, and challenges when doubts take place.
The nature of the world around us is not always perfect. It is hard to create the world regarding personal interests only. There is always someone, who wants to make corrections. People are usually insane with their intentions to change everything around. They are ready to mix their feelings and emotions to have hope that they can achieve something better. That is why the world around us is powerful indeed because it is able to unite all people and make them survive with their weaknesses, instabilities, dreams, and doubts.
I believe that a human being is one of the most complex creatures created in this world. A human being is able to put him/herself in a mass of controversies, technological achievements, and demands and believes that a superior power can help to cope with everything.
Sometimes, I stop doing everything and catch myself on a thought why I am doing something. Is there a meaning of all my actions? My heart prompts me that I do everything to be satisfied with my life. My mind and rationalism answer that I have to do something to meet the expectations of other people. How long should such doubts take place? Till death? When it happens, what happens to me? What happens to me when I die? This is the most terrible question I have in my head. I do not want to think about it because I do not have any material or evidence to prove my answer. I am not able to know everything, and I do not want to.
People want to believe that it is possible to know anything at all. Still, they explain their inabilities because of the absence of time, opportunities, or support. People try to find the explanations of their personal weaknesses via other people’s actions.
At the same time, being spiritually weak, people continue judging everything around from a personal perspective, a scientific point of view, or a pluralistic position. They try to identify what is right and what is wrong using personal preferences, knowledge, and the nature of outcomes that can be observed.
Human history is a constant struggle between what people actually have and what they want to have. Despite the fact that people are usually provided with many things and opportunities, they do not cherish their chances and can lose everything in a moment.
References
Bunkowske, E.W. (2005). The theological meaning and use of communion: The case of the Lutheran church-Missouri Synod. In D.A. Roozen & J.R. Nieman (Eds.), Church, identity, and change (pp. 294-326). Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Web.
Chopra, D. & Mlodinow, L. (2011). War of the worldviews: Where science and spirituality meet. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group. Web.
Harcup, T. (2006). The ethical journalist. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Web.
Speck, B.W. & Hoppe, S.L. (2007). Searching for spirituality in higher education. New York, NY: Peter Lang. Web.