Worship the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37).

Introduction

For a number of years, this site, Contemplations, revolved around my counseling practice. Since I’ve retired and have also retired my license, I do not focus that heavily on the profession of counseling any longer on this blog. I will write a piece every once in a while about the field of counseling, but it is no longer the main theme of this blog. However, sometime back I delineated some themes (here)and (here) for this blog which I want to form the core of what I write here. Post-retirement I also changed the direction I want to take this blog (here) and (here) whereby I hope to discuss more than just the field of counseling, including such areas as philosophy, economics, history, the arts, and what I call analysis of power. Although my desire to change the emphases on this blog was generated by my retirement, much of it came about due to my recommitment to my faith as a Christian. Hence my faith in Jesus, the Christ, is the foundation for all I write on these pages.

Two of the themes that I come back to intermittently on this blog are mind and worldview. I will discuss the importance of these themes in this month’s blog in the context of today’s culture, particularly as an analysis of power (AOP) related to our political environment.

How We Think and Act Shapes Our Worldview

We live in a postmodern age where everything is relativized, but ironically everything is politicized and about power and control over others. Individuals cannot consistently live out a worldview that claims everything is relative while also becoming politically active, embracing the pursuit of power and control over others. Note the direction that wokeism has taken us in terms of its assault on freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to live out one’s spiritual beliefs as one sees fit. The first and second amendments to the Constitution are under constant attack. Business owners have been sued with the threat of losing their livelihood because they didn’t want to engage certain actions that contradicted their faith.

Living in a postmodern and politicized age means that we cannot help but experience a conflict of values when it comes to the way we want to live out what we believe in the world. Presently we see that the conflict of worldviews has led to violence, destruction of property, and loss of life. Such conflicts of basic core beliefs cannot be resolved by either embracing relativism or engendering the politicization of all things in life. Indeed, the Constitution and Bill of Rights aimed at severely restricting political power that could reach into peoples’ lives, whether that power be considered of the right or the left.

The conflict of worldviews we witness today, whether it be in our work environments, educational institutions, or on the streets is a conflict of ideologies. How we think about life and confirm our values shape our worldviews which contribute to our ideologies. Those who hold an ideology that they want established by political power over others may consider themselves relativists but they are absolutists in the most strict sense. Power makes right. Whether one considers him- or herself to be conservative or progressive, such a worldview is absolutist and totalitarian.

Can We Hold to Absolutes Without Being Totalitarian?

As one who holds to the Christian faith, I believe in absolute truth. Hence, I most definitely believe that it is possible to hold to the notion of truth as absolute without becoming authoritarian or totalitarian. Given human nature, it is easy to slide into desiring our worldview to be foisted on others. Yet that very desire is authoritarian in-and-of-itself. Simply because I do not hold to postmodern politicized precepts doesn’t mean that I think all worldviews are equally valid and worthy of being considered as true. I do believe that we should live and be at peace with others as much as that is possible. There are times when conflicting ideologies must be resolved where possible. There will always be those with whom we not only disagree, but with whom we also are at odds on the most core level. A civilized society finds ways for people to coexist with ideologies that are at odds. I will never embrace the acceptance a worldview that is opposed to my Christian faith that sees the Bible as the word of God. However, I will not call for political power to convert people to my faith. I will call on the Constitution that gives me the right to live out my worldview, fully knowing it is at odds with other belief systems.

The conflicting ideologies we face now are these. Many progressives call for an absolutist centralized power that sees individual liberty as suspect. Such an ideology, whether progressive or conservative, cannot allow individuals to live according to their own values and worldview. Thereby, such an ideology is authoritarian and totalitarian. Conservatives as well call on political power to have their way. We live in a political age that sees politics as an answer to life’s problems and dilemmas. Couple that with a postmodern age, then everything is about power, and power makes right.

Conclusion

As Christians what does it mean to live out what Jesus said was the great and foremost commandment (Matthew 22:37-40)? For too long the church has given over the culture to the designs of those whose worldview is antithetical to God’s word and who God is as the most Holy One. There has never been a time when it’s unimportant for us as Christians to live out our worldview. But it is of extreme importance today in an age of postmodernism that politicizes every area of life. We have to show others that for sure, there is a battle and conflict of ideologies that we face in everyday life in all areas of life. And we will not shrink back from such a battle. Simultaneously, we have to show we represent not political coerciveness toward those of antithetical ideologies until they cross such a line with us. That means that we have to know what those lines are. In addition to what Jesus called the great and foremost commandment, He also said that there is a second commandment like it: love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). This doesn’t mean that we condone the evil in the world. What it means, however, is that we must truly beseech God to revive the churches and awaken this country. Regeneration is the way to bringing about the peace among people for which we hold out hope.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./ September 14th, 2023

ANALYSIS/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/THEMATIC/Mind and Worldview