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THE DIVERSITY OF WORLDVIEWS

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Overview of "worldview":

The term "world view" (a.k.a. "worldview") is borrowed from the German word "weltanschauung." It means a person's fundamental "world outlook," or life perspective.  It refers to their perceptions of deity, humanity and the rest of the universe. "It represents our personal metaphysical outlook on life." ₁

Understanding one's personal worldview is important, because it is a main source of one's moral code, ethics and many other beliefs. As R. Wesley Hurd of McKenzie Study Center writes: understanding one's worldview helps people make sense of their world and make choices for living their lives. It helps one realize how different individuals can approach a seemingly straightforward issue such as abortion, and end up with opposite opinions. ₂ One's beliefs about homosexuality, physician assisted suicide, the death penalty, corporal punishment of children, pre-marital sex, polygamy, stem cell research, inter-faith marriage and a host of other topics often flow logically from their worldview.

People with different worldviews often assign different definitions to words like "pregnancy" and "homosexuality." They may use different definitions for truth. Open dialogue and problem solving is often very difficult among persons with different worldviews -- particularly if they have no insight of the role that their personal worldview has in determining their beliefs.

The United States is generally regarded as the most religiously diverse country on Earth. Because religion and worldview are so closely linked, the U.S. probably has the greatest diversity of worldviews as well.

Topics discussed in this section:

Reference used:

1. Joseph Farinaccio, "Faith with reason: Why Christianity is true,"
2. R. Wesley Hurd, "Me and My Worldview," McKenzie Study Center, at:  http://www.mckenziestudycenter.org

Amazon.com lists the following books on worldviews in its data base:

Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally posted: 2005-JUN-02
Latest update: 2005-JUN-03
Author: B.A. Robinson