Christian Perspective and Postmodern Relativism: The Nature of Spirituality and Ethics

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Table of Contents

Background
Scientism
Worldview Questions
References

Background

Both Christianity and postmodern relativism relate to spirituality and its influence on human life. Christianity authors the belief in the existence of a sovereign God who controls everything in the universe, allowing and disallowing life events. The theological and religious prism affects how people perceive God as the all-powerful and eternal one (Lasair, 2020). Christians’ belief systems are based on the concept of God as portrayed in the Holy Bible. They explain the purpose, truth, and meaning of human life, influencing how Christians perceive health care. Dependence on the all-powerful external force enables Christians to reach a transcendent state for health care experiences and other life events.

Since they follow God’s guidance in every decision, Christians are more at peace with life outcomes. For example, they accept health care outcomes more readily than non-believers do because of the belief that God allows every fate, whether it is bad or good. Ethics are guided by biblical principles, even when related to health care (Lasair, 2020). For instance, abortion is equated to murder the unborn child and is not accepted by Christians. Therefore, healthcare decisions involving Christianity are guided by the bible.

Unlike Christianity, which rejects ambiguity by adhering to biblical guidelines, postmodern relativism takes a liberal approach to spirituality and ethics. These relativists believe there is no absolute truth regarding the existence of God or adherence to ethics (Garrett, 2018). Therefore, every spiritual or ethical belief is valid, even if there are contrasting ones. As such, discarding any argument or decision about health care is not encouraged. Postmodern relativism supports diversity and multicultural approaches to healthcare because medical professionals must embrace multiple and contradictory perceptions from patients and families (Garrett, 2018). In addition, the understanding of ethics might change from one patient to the other without affecting the quality of care.

Scientism

Scientism argues that hard sciences provide superior scientific knowledge as the only source of genuine and absolute truths. The hard sciences, including physics and biology, rely on laws of nature or experimentation. They produce reliable results based on testable, factual, and replicable data. Scientism regards soft sciences as inferior or pseudosciences since their conjectures and guesses are not replicable or factual but subject to change (Vukov, 2021). It seeks to differentiate the two science categories based on the value of their information, with hard sciences presenting more valuable knowledge than soft sciences. The reliance on subjectivism makes soft sciences prone to influences by human nature, leading to contradictory ideas on the same topics of principles. Overall, scientism accords greater intellectual authority to hard over soft sciences in knowledge matters.

There are arguments raised against scientism and its elevation of hard sciences. The first argument refutes the claim that hard sciences use factual data that does not change by asserting the restructuring of measuring instruments and fluctuations in the environment (Vukov, 2021). Therefore, the sciences cannot provide absolute facts and truths as knowledge grows with new information, creating no difference between hard and soft sciences. The second argument against scientism is the disregard hard sciences have over personal opinion to rely heavily on rationality. Since willful thoughts are significant in new knowledge discovery, the tyrannical approach presented by scientism prevents scientific advancement. Therefore, soft sciences will perform better in advancing scientific knowledge through the discovery of new information as they support willful thoughts.

Worldview Questions

Ultimate Reality

Ultimate reality states that individuals are the result of the exchanges they have with the environment. People are the product of their surroundings through nurture than nature. The environment includes family units, schools, religious groups, community, neighborhood, city, and state. In this view, I am the product of my interactions with parents, grandparents, and siblings at the family level. Other important exchanges are in my school, where I interact with students and teachers. I have a social life away from home and learning institutions such as at work and in other community events.

My family has instilled foundational values and beliefs in me, while schools, community, and religious groups have added to the belief system or changed my perspective on some ideas. Since I was raised in a Christian family, most of my childhood was spent in Christian circles rather than Muslim ones. Therefore, I am more inclined towards conservatism in controversial public health issues abortion and polygamy. However, the school environment and knowledge acquired in learning have opened up my thinking to become a more liberal Christian. As such, I would support abortion where life is threatened and embrace LGBTQ communities in respect of equal human rights.

Nature of the Universe

The nature of the universe is to experience constant change by relying on energy and prioritizing processes through evolution, energy conversion, extinction, and competition. Evolution entails adaptation to changes in one’s environment, while energy conversion is a shift between energy forms. Extinction occurs when components are removed from the universe due to the inability to compete, while competition is the struggle for scarce resources.

While plants and animals are known to experience extinction, humans undergo competition and evolution. The nature of the universe forces us into schools to acquire the best education to become the most competitive in the job market. Without skills and experience, people can become ‘extinct’ in their areas of specialization. As technology advances, humans must evolve to adapt to the newest ways of living to avoid extinction. For example, the world is gradually shifting to paperless currency such as digital money offered by central banks. People who stick to cash payments will be unable to buy from most stores a few years into the future. The nature of the universe forces them to evolve from cash to cashless payment systems for survival.

Human Being

Human beings are animals with rationalism and can be defined as the creations of God or the products of evolution. Religion recognizes God as the creator of all universe, including human beings. For instance, Christians believe that humans have the image of God as entailed in the creation story of the Holy Bible. Therefore, they are to follow the creator’s purpose for their existence, including procreating, nurturing the earth and everything in it, and obeying his word. Humans are also defined as the products of science through the process of evolution. This perspective argues that humans developed higher thinking capacity through selective adaptation, leading to complex vocabulary, languages, and technologies.

My worldview aligns with the Christianity definition that a supreme God created humans in his likeness to accomplish his purpose on earth. In this definition, we are supposed to abide by the principles of the creator to procreate and protect the rest of the universe. Human beings are stewards on earth, positioned by God to take care of animals, birds, and the environment they live in.

Knowledge

Knowledge is a combination of skills, information, and facts cognitively acquired from learning or experience. Learning might occur in formal or informal set-ups such as schools or at home. In a formal learning environment, knowledge acquisition processes are structured with clear roles between teachers and learners. Additionally, specific sets of knowledge are passed down to learners. However, informal learning environments are often social groups where knowledge is unintentionally passed from one person to another. For example, in a family setting, children learn from their parents through imitating behavior and words. Experience refers to acquiring knowledge while doing some work rather than from somebody. Therefore, learning imparts theoretical knowledge while experience gives practical know-how.

Knowledge is a critical component of our lives as it enhances the quality of life for everyone. For instance, professional medical practitioners such as doctors and nurses utilize their knowledge to help us maintain bodily and mental health. Engineers in every field ensure that we achieve optimum efficiency by using functional machines, living in well-built houses, and using safe infrastructures. Teachers have the knowledge that helps children and adults to acquire more knowledge through formal learning structures.

Basis of Ethics

The basis of ethics can be individual culture or public beliefs. My basic basis of ethics is my culture, which is the result of interacting with family, community, and other social groups. This culture develops from birth, where a child learns right and wrong from parents and older siblings. For example, I have learned to respect others and treat everyone with kindness. I have also learned to be assertive and fight for my rights where necessary. Stealing and cheating other people to get ahead in life is morally wrong. Overall, the greatest percentage of my ethics are based on my culture, while a small part is determined by the prevailing belief systems.

The laws of the land and workplace culture influence my ethics to a certain extent. For example, my culture supports hard work and impartial commitment to success. However, if my employer does not value or reward hard work, I might be discouraged from committing myself to the job. Similarly, I must abide by laws that may contradict my individual beliefs to avoid jail terms and police arrests. For example, I must follow laws allowing adult women to have safe abortions even though my Christianity prohibits it. As such, I would not use force to prevent even my adult daughter from seeking such services. Therefore, my personal beliefs and values, and external factors are the basis of my ethics, but my culture remains dominant over environmental influences.

The Purpose of My Existence

My primary purpose of existence is to accomplish the work of my creator on earth. I must act as a good steward and caretaker of everything under my authority, including properties, other beings, and people. This purpose requires me to be a responsible parent, sibling, child, friend, worker, employer, property owner, tenant, leader, or follower. I must conserve and protect the vulnerable, including animals, birds, other creatures, and the environment. As a good steward, my purpose involves utilizing my resources to benefit others rather than accumulating massive individual wealth. Nevertheless, it entails taking good care of my health and wellbeing through communion with God, proper eating habits, exercising, and lifelong learning. I must be whole and complete to protect the environment and other people.

References

Garrett, B. (2018). Social science: Scientific realism, alternative frameworks and the rise of postmodern thought. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Lasair, S. (2020). A narrative approach to spirituality and spiritual care in health care.Journal of Religion and Health, 59(3), 1524-1540. Web.

Vukov, J. (2021). Scientism and secularism: Learning to respond to a dangerous ideology. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 73(1), 48-50. Web.

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