Question

Based on your readings, what is the main difference between the modern Western worldview and the current postmodern worldview? Which parts, if any, do you identify with? Explain. Cite references from your reading to support your answer.

Answer 1

Shelly and Miller (2006) depicts that the modern Western worldview as being affected by dichotomy established in the perspective of good and evil in eternal clash with one another, success-failure, truth-lie, formed by the scriptural estimations of equity and love just as logical point of view. At an early stage , the world was viewed as being created by and reliant on God. As time passes people started to believe destiny as their own and people began thinking of God as distant. It additionally accentuates on the estimation of people as individuals and that the individual should not be lost within a gathering. (Shelly & Miller, 2006)

As per Shelly and Miller, many belief we have shifted into a Postmodern Worldview which trusts that science alone cant give significance to life and rejects dualism.m. It searches for a comprehensive view, concordance among people and their condition, drawing between various philosophies , religions and spirituality , and are available to mysticism and vitality based hypotheses. (Shelly and Miller, 2006)

I trust in a more blended world view. We were taught to respect the elders and maintain manners such as being polite, respecting others and need to continue our education. Unfortunately she was unable to strike out on her own as her parents had expected she would one day , because of some family illness. By this time she had found that there was no black and white anymore, her decisions had consequences, and she questioned her worldview even then though she didn’t recognize it then.

As a young adult, she started seeing the merits of both worldviews; however, a blended approach is best as there is not just one right path in life. It's found that believing in a higher power can give one faith when it was lost, hope, something to believe in, helps calm, relax and settle a person, can comfort and give one reassurance, provide a community, and has been proven to have benefits in healing body, mind and spirit.

Modern society has disassociated from God and spirituality and it has become taboo. There are a quiet lot of things which can be explained by science and not through the beliefs. The technology has been advanced in the post modern society which can potentially go into realms that should not be explored and that were never meant to be explored such as genetically changing the genes of our children, prolonging life in such a manner that it is unnatural, or cloning other humans. There is a great deal that science alone can't disclose and we look to our religion, spirituality and our very own convictions to discover comfort. We can discover solace in our convictions of a higher being, paradise, confidence in a life following death or even in rebirth.

Reference

Shelly, J.A., & Miller, A.B. (2006). Called to Care: A Christian Worldview for Nursing (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/InterVarsity Press