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Worldview Matters Essay: We are the Choices We Make
Using
the Choices We Make
Cards
and Booklet to Promote Dialogue and Shape Our Future
The cards and related booklet contain what are called worldview themes. For example, consider the King of Diamonds card, or choice #2 as found in the booklet, with the “Mind Open, Vision Global” theme on one side, and “Mind Narrowly Focused” on the other. Seems that if you’re determinedly narrow-minded these cards aren’t for you! But wait, how many people fit into that category? Don’t most of us claim to be open-minded? Perhaps…but there’s no denying many of us live in a bubble, surrounded by like-minded people, and seldom have real conversations with those “other” folks to understand what’s behind their beliefs and values. For that matter, how many of us really appreciate what’s behind our own beliefs, values, and behavior? Figuring that out is a good starting point if you're dissatisfied with your own life, your relationship to the world you live in, or what other people do based on their beliefs and values. Ultimately your worldview is expressed in choices you make; the state of the world reflects trillions of choices “we” have collectively made. The fifty two cards and related Choices We Make booklet provide a useful framework for characterizing worldviews and pursuing a global education.
Back to the themes in that framework and specifically the next card —or choice (#3) in the booklet—namely, the Queen of Diamonds. Note “Humbly Unsure” appears on one side, and “I Know What’s Best for You” on the other. Perhaps you chuckle upon reading that latter theme title and recall how many times your parents said that to you. That thought is followed by the suspicion that many people never really move beyond their parents’ or respected elders beliefs and values. Consider the following story.
Every
year church elders send thousands of young people overseas on
“missions”—
with an aim of winning “converts”.
Such “evangelizing” has a long history. Christian missionary efforts
to convert indigenous people accompanied the discovery, exploration, and
colonization of the New World. The late 18th and early 19th
century missions established by Spanish Padres (like Junipero Serra) throughout
California attest to this.
To some extent these evangelists, as they interact with the targets of
their missions, are convinced “I Know What’s Best for You!”
As they see it, the message they bring to those ignorant
of it can be the salvation of those who embrace it. But—
history also records that such contact brought a staggering death toll to New
World tribes who lacked immunity to Old World germs, Thus in 2015, Columbian
authorities, seeking to protect long isolated Amazonian tribes, both from germs
and disruption of their unique lifestyles, intercepted two American evangelical
missionaries.
Suffice
it to say that those who are “Humbly Unsure” would never become such
evangelists! They
would not possess an attitude shaped by ethnocentrism, nor have committed to
belief in an afterlife spent in heaven, hell, etc. Beliefs they have are often
filled with doubt sufficient to preclude their sharing them—let alone trying
to convert others!
So these timid unsure folks probably won’t be the ones to “change the
world”…
Better candidates for doing that are the folks you find named on one of the themes on the next card, the Jack of Diamonds / choice #4,—“The True Believers”. This title suggests a religious agenda. Give them an “I Know What’s Best for You” orientation and you’ve got a powerful alliance! Who will challenge them? The card’s flip side has the answer: “Skeptics!”
One such skeptic,
Valerie Tarico, has launched a broad side attack on this alliance with an essay
“Six Reasons Religion May Do More Harm Than Good.”
She argues religion promotes (closed-minded intolerant) tribalism,
(fatalistic) helplessness, and “Iron Age” beliefs, specifically charging,
“Sacred texts including the Bible, Torah and Koran all preserve and protect
fragments of Iron Age culture, putting a god’s name and endorsement on some of
the very worst human impulses.” And she claims “Religion
makes a virtue out of faith…”
We now return to the card we could have started this essay with: the Ace of Diamonds / choice #1 with "Evidence Based" and "Positive Expectations" themes. At first glance it seems to offer a choice between realism and optimism, or probing a bit deeper between valuing evidence or wishful thinking. If you wish to become what famed psychologist Abraham Maslow called a self-actualized person consider his conclusion. “Probably the most universal and common aspect of these superior people, is their ability to see life clearly, to see it as it is, not as they wish it to be. In other words, they prefer the Evidence-Based theme and avoid the wishful thinking related alternative. That latter phrase once served as the title for this theme, but realizing it had negative connotations it was re-titled "Positive Expectations." This name recognizes the value in having hope and in thinking positively—and in having faith that outcomes can be steered in a positive direction.
Like many of the choices, both of the alternatives in choice #1 have some value. Project Worldview seeks to help those trying to sort out "the confusion of existence." A big part of this is helping people stay firmly grounded in reality and avoid deluding themselves—something that can easily lead to bodily harm. Example: if you're sick, do you trust your treatment to a reputable doctor with credentials or a faith healer? Evidence-based is a term many link with medical science—but more generally it can be an important part of a worldview. The two choice #1 themes capture an important cultural divide between those trusting in science & technology, and those religious / others who profess “In God We Trust.” To strike a balance and avoid taking sides in this age old conflict—having alluded to a religious skeptic viewpoint —consider what any essay about what’s good about religion might include: the extent to which it promotes caring about other people and treating them right.
With this we turn our attention
from “diamonds” cards to “hearts”
cards—cards primarily related
to “feeling.” The
ace in that suit—choice #14—balances "Relaxed, Generous, Loving"
with "Cautious Processing" themes. Likewise the ten in that suit—choice
#18— contrasts "Golden Rule" compassionate treatment of
others, with fearing them (as in the “Culture of Fear” theme.) Another
choice presented by the three of hearts / choice # 25 contrasts the unconditional love behind
the “Love is Family Glue” theme, with the flip side “Tough Love” choice.
The latter promotes discipline, teaching responsibility and stresses
obligations. Inspired by themes on the nine of hearts card /choice #19, we can
imagine Christian parents wondering, “Will the lesson in Sunday School focus on the New Testament
loving, forgiving God (Jesus), or the vengeful Old Testament God and scary tales
of hell-fire awaiting those who don’t behave?”
Many
of the themes you notice as you thumb through the card deck, or turn the pages
in the booklet, relate to “the big
picture” and society as a whole, rather than solely to more focused,
individual behavior. The offering on the
front of the box you can make to hold your cards captures their potential
societal impact: "It's just a humble card deck—but
it can burst bubbles, change minds, and just perhaps ...CAN CHANGE THE
WORLD." Suffice it to say that a good starting point for those wanting
to work for a better world is with oneself. This begins with making good choices
for yourself—ones based on the goal of attaining a healthy worldview. You may
not initially get it right, but mistakes can be valuable when you learn from the (sometimes painful) feedback they provide, and refines
your worldview accordingly. Needless to say a healthy worldview builds on making choices that
reinforce each together—not contradictory ones. Example: it seems pretty silly
for someone supposedly concerned about global environment health to be
polluting his or her own ecosystem by smoking or vaping tobacco / nicotine!
With those remarks, we turn from feelings / hearts cards to
clubs cards—those
related to
“joining” behavior. If we truly hope to be effective in “Working for Change”
—one side of the ten of clubs / choice #31—we need to magnify our voices / efforts by
joining others. In contrast, those comfortable
with the status quo and choice on this card’s flip side value tradition.
They are comfortable with “the way we’ve always done it,” and
traditional beliefs / “we believe that” —where the “we” refers to
members of our tribe. Which brings us to the theme on one side of the five of
clubs / choice # 36: theme #37A: “Proud Identification & Tribalism”. A card carrying five of
clubs tribal devotee might proclaim, “I’m a freedom loving American!”
Seems in recent years the “American tribe” has devolved into lots of
fighting between two smaller tribes: “Democrats” and “Republicans.”
In Britain, a similar degree of polarization involved “stay” and
“leave” factions battling over the country’s membership in the European
Union.
The
“freedom loving American” orientation is to be contrasted with two choices
someone else might make. One is opting for the five of clubs “Global
Citizen” theme, the other embraces “Limits & Ethics” on the Ace of
Spades card / choice #40, instead of “Freedom From Limits.” (Spades are related to our
“doing” as related to our impact on nature / the environment.)
If we bring in the nine of spades / choice #45, the American’s shopping preferences
/ excesses might suggest a “More is Better Mentality,” while our global
citizen might limit consumption / resource use and be happy with “Enoughness.”
Factoring
in a diamonds card—the
two / choice #13, with “Simply in God’s Hands: Apocalypticism” and “Complexity...Dancing With
Systems” alternatives—our conservative church going friend feels nothing needs to
be done about manmade future environmental threats to the quality of life on
Earth, or other problems like drought, poverty, cancer, etc. These, some in the
faith-based community might passively attribute to, in the words of Valerie
Tarico, “the
will of God rather than bad decisions or bad systems; believers wait for God to
solve problems they could solve themselves.” Our liberal church-going global
citizen, in contrast, with evidence-based concerns, is actively involved. In the
words of the ...Dancing With
Systems theme she summarizes where the battle against global climate
change has been, and what it must achieve: “We
plan / anticipate. Trends è
Predictions è
Policy Changes. Averting catastrophe to create a future we choose.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if these people, our religious and political leaders, and concerned citizens with different views everywhere, could get together and talk to each other, not yell at each other? Sit down, perhaps over a deck of cards or a short booklet, and quietly talk, listen, find common ground — wouldn’t it be nice? And wouldn’t it be nice if our older children could get involved in educational activity the Choices We Make cards can promote? Or perhaps pursue an independent study global education course. Those children represent our future—a future our collective choices steadily shape.
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back to Worldviews--An Introduction back to Choice #1