Knowing Our Biases: Sixth Meeting with my Conversation Partner

Jose and I often meet for the hour before I go to religion class. Today Jose asked me about what we learned in the class. I said that the main focus of the class is to learn about different religions and find ways in which they all connect. The definition of religion in this class encompasses not only traditional religion, but also what “ultimately concerns” people in general. This can encompass nationalism and the pursuit of happiness. After I explained this, I got a glimpse into Jose’s worldview and his ultimate concern. He began to tell me that he thought religion had too many rules to comply well with this day and age. He did not think that certain religions should enforce such a strict law codes because it sets people up for failure.

Since being in my world religions class, I’ve realized that you can tell a lot about what is of ultimate concern to person based on what they are willing to sacrifice and what they are not. When Jose said that religion should bend towards the will of today’s society that showed that there was a shift in Venezuelan culture away from traditional religious values.

I, at first, assumed it was a shift towards humanism, or the idea that the pursuit of happiness is the ultimate concern. I then realized that I was projecting American societal values on Venezuelan culture. In America, religion is typically pushed away for this pursuit of happiness, so I assumed religious values were adapted for similar reasons in Venezuela. But Jose never said what societal value religion should adapt to, simply that it should adapt.

It was amazing how naturally I projected my culture’s worldview onto Jose’s. I then realized that it’s almost impossible not to. The only way someone can measure what others say is based on the life experiences that form his or her worldview. There’s no way to avoid it, we just have to be aware of our biases and know how they affect what we hear others say.