In America, we are in a season when this is at the forefront of our collective consciousness...election season.
As an independent, I often feel that I am able to step back from the rhetoric of both sides and take an "objective" look-see at things being said and done (make no mistake, I understand that I fall into the same trappings as anyone else). But in a two-sided system, when you are on neither side, it is just easier to be objective. I see pundits and ideologues making salacious claims and hurling hateful accusations and wonder why they hold so strongly their world view that they are comfortable doing it at the expense of others and in an intentionally hurtful way (again, I have done this myself, so, I am looking in the mirror while writing).
I want us to consider our world view. I want us to dig beyond the surface of what we believe and make some concessions. I would like for us to acknowledge the inherent value of someone else's perspective. This is not something that will be easy for many of us. Because we feel, in some cases, to acknowledge the value of someone else's perspective devalues or invalidates ours.
It may be helpful for you to reflect on why you believe the way you do about things like politics, religion, race, money, nationality, education, gender equality. How do your views on these issues differ from your upbringing? How much imprinting was part of the process of you believing what you believe and how much came from a deep contemplation of the topic or study or life experience?
I am not here to say that just because you inherited a belief system from your family that it is necessarily wrong - but who are any of us to say that because we inherited a belief system from our family it is necessarily correct? What makes your world view more or less true than those who have had a different life experience and drawn different conclusions?
Many of us are not in the habit of questioning our own beliefs. We accept what we have always accepted with some minor adjustments for life experience.
I tend to have a greater appreciation for someone who is living a life or a belief system that is divergent from their upbringing or world view because I understand how difficult it is for us to leave the safe haven of what we have been taught to be true. It takes courage and intelligence.
As a white male who grew up in an upper middle class politically conservative Christian home, my world view was shaped for me in ways that caused me to trust the "system." The status quo has been good to me and my kind. I did not grow up with an inherent distrust of the police, the government, authority, etc. In my lifetime, I have not been denied access to anything I had the resources to afford. I have had a life of choices - and except for my mistakes - most of those choices were good options.
Juxtapose that to someone who grows up in poverty in America. That person may be "taught" to distrust the system. They are made to believe that things don't work in their favor and that they don't have the same choices or options. For them, they have to work around, or work harder, or accept their lot in life. One could easily become embittered because they are taught to be so.
I would contend that our world view is as much a part of us as our race. For me to say to some of you to stop being liberal, or stop being conservative, or stop being Christian, or stop seeing things the way you do...would be akin to me saying stop being white or black or Asian.
There are exceptions to any situation and just as you may be able to point to a person here or there that was raised in poverty and was able to claw their way out. We can also point to individuals who were afforded better choices but made poor choices and ultimately sabotaged themselves.
Most of what we believe, is the result of what we are taught. It is not because you have a direct line to some secret vein of truth and you and your kind were just lucky enough to happen upon it.
For me, change began to occur through life experience. I traveled and saw and met the poor - extremely poor people. I have held infants dying of AIDS and I have held the hand of a prostitute who was tricked into sex slavery at 13. I had my preconceived ideas of why someone was poor and how or why they chose to stay that way. My beliefs were challenged and I believe I am better for it.
The point behind this is that we all have value. Every world view offers perspective. Every world view has legitimacy and we can all grow and expand our knowledge as we open our minds and hearts to understand those around us.
Are you willing to ask yourself the deeper questions about why you believe what you believe and how those beliefs affect the way you interact with the world around you?
I think you should.
