Speech Analysis Essay on Worldviews - How Do You See The World And Why? by Dr. Os Guinness

Introduction

In a speech given by Dr. Os Guinness at Oxford University, he identified three of the most significant geo-political questions that involve a religious dimension namely; Will Islam revolutionize calmly? Which faith will substitute Marxism in China and will the West dissolve or retrieve its roots?

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He further pointed out that a thinking person's quest for meaning begins when the seeker's examined life becomes a question for positive or negative reasons. The seeking of answers is very important for the seeker as it helps them to move from a time of issues to a time of responses. Conventionally, according to Dr. Guinness, we have looked for answers in philosophy, arts, sciences and fundamental worldviews including atheism. We seek to find out what is it that they believe in rather than what they doubt (Guinness).

Guinness further identified that we live in a consumer stage where it is more important to have a choice than what is it that you choose. Also, he looked into the secularization theory which the academic world at large held the notion that the more modern we become, the less religious we are which is factually wrong and philosophically biased. Furthermore, a second objection was examined, and it stated that "they're all equally false law, equally bad." According to AJ Ayer and his verification principle, you could only accept that which is right and which could be verified through the senses. It further seemed to outweigh talk about faith and religion, so the word 'dog' was said to be more meaningful than the word 'god' (Guinness).

Additionally, he also stated the vast differences between faiths and their level of assumptions. Most of those differences are fundamental and ultimate. When someone has a question, they go out and look for a better answer than they had and the issue at this stage is adequacy. The worldview one chooses will not only shape what is seen and experienced. It will shape what can never be seen. A mountain can be viewed as a landmark for a navigator, and to an engineer, it could be a potential source of wealth. The mountain is considered different because of the attention we bring to things. The fact that we don't hear something doesn't mean it is non-existent (Guinness).

According to modern people, the unseen is unreal, and not allowed by the worldview. However, each searcher has a particular question and wants an answer to what matters supremely. Dr. Guinness stipulated that families of faith are faiths that have a general family resemblance because they go back to what is the ultimate reality in the universe. Three major families in the world exist. They are Eastern which constitutes Hinduism and Buddhism, Secularists which relies on chance and necessity and entails atheism and materialism and finally Abrahamic which is comprised of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Guinness).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dr. Guinness depicted that answering life questions becomes a matter of public significance as there will always be a consequence for any choice we make and the difference between worldviews matters (Guinness).

Works Cited

Guinness, Os. Worldviews - How Do You See The World And Why? - Os Guinness - UNCOVER. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6M9ls_BwWE. Accessed 14 Dec 2018.