I was showing a buddy of mine how I keep my audiobooks, e-books, PDF files, and college lectures organized on my phone, and he made mention of how much religious and philosophical material I have. I know your beliefs, and I honestly just didnt think youd be interested in that stuff, he told me. This is a guy Ive known for 5-6 years. And I think it is indicative of the misconception surrounding my worldview. I was raised in the Baptist church. I went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night, I played sports on the church league teams, I went to church camps every summer, I went on skiing trips with church, etc. Ive led Bible studies, taught Sunday school classes, and witnessed to countless people. Because that is what I was taught and that is what I believed. But as I grew older, I began to question things. My reading interests expanded. My curiosity led me to look at different sources for my information. And my circumstances allowed me to meet and spend time with people from different religions and cultures. I became very friendly with a group of Muslims, read the Quran, and fasted with them for Ramadan. I met for lunch daily with a Chinese man who was a Taoist, and we discussed eastern religions and philosophies. Ive been to numerous Wiccan meetings, Native American gatherings, atheist groups, etc. One of my best friends to this day is an Orthodox Jew. Ive read the Bible front to Back on four occasions, and countless times in part. Ive read the Quran. Ive read the Bhagavad Gita (a sacred text of the Hindus). And Ive pored over who knows how many works of philosophers. And on top of all that, Ive done my VERY best to grasp the scientific realities of this world and to understand how things work. Biology, chemistry, cosmology, physics, etc. I am well aware that Im not especially gifted in any particular field of study and I certainly dont have some inherently special mind. Fact is, Im just a regular everyday person searching for what makes sense to me. Just like everybody else, I am simply doing my best to figure this shit out. But Ive said all that to say this: I did not arrive at my current worldview due to a lack of religious or philosophical knowledge. I arrived at my current worldview BECAUSE of my exposure to various religions and philosophies. And I try to stay focused on learning and growing everyday. As I think we all should be .
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:26:45 +0000
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