Worldviews

From what I can tell, a worldview is a person's way of viewing and thinking about the world, according to their own experiences and teachings from within their folk group. In other words, everyone has specific ways in which they function in and react to the world around them, and this depends on how they were raised, or how their folk group influenced them. When I try to think about what my own worldview is, I think of how I was brought up, and what values my parents instilled in me. What comes to mind first is acceptance. I was brought up to know that people are diverse, and that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and equality. I am technically half Christian, half Jewish, and when I was young my family would go to Universalism Universalist church. The UU congregation consisted of people of all faiths (like my family), and the church focused on nurturing individual spirituality and practicing kindness in your life, not necessarily any specific religious beliefs or practices. As a kid at UU, we had a class called Holidays and Holy Days, where we learned about a different religion and their holidays each week. The experience of going to UU let me gain a lot of knowledge about many cultures, religions, and beliefs. Combined with my parents' teaching me to be a "good person", my time at UU was a big influence on my worldview, and how I lead my life. Nowadays, I consider myself Jewish because that part of my heritage has been the biggest influence on me and I identify with it more. Judaism is big on practicing morality and values in life; good deeds and our actions are more important than our beliefs. This has impacted how I think about the world and my own life. I guess I could say that my world view is this: I might not always be a "good" Jew, but I try to be a good person, and I think that's what counts. This ideal definitely has its roots in the many influences I've had in my life, most specifically being a part of the UU and Jewish folk groups, as well as my own family folk group.