Personal Narrative: My Personal Worldview

I will be introducing my personal worldview and what I believe. I will then, review and discuss most of the questions I conducted in my interview. I used some of my own questions formulate my interview, but then related them to the Sire textbook questions. My interview questions and answers are relevant and most intriguing to the reader. I discovered complexities, consistencies and inconsistencies within my interview. I will then, compare and contrast my personal worldview with my interviewee. My conclusion will restate and overall recap of my worldview and my interviewee’s worldview.
My personal worldview and what I believe- the 8 questions from the Sire book: (Sire, 2009, p. 22-23)
1. What is my prime reality—the really real?

I believe in God, the son and the Holy Ghost and I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to salvation. God and Jesus Christ are real to me and once had a physical body like all of mankind. I have felt God’s presence in my life and through my trials. He has helped me because I have allowed him in my life prayed to Him and put my faith in Him.
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? I believe the world was created by God and Jesus Christ. We are part of the universe, but I do not believe we are the center of it. Our creators are the center of our universe in my opinion; it is only right that God created it. The world is around us, but it is really how you want to see the world as an individual.
3. What is a human being? Being human is part of life here on earth. We live, breath, eat, drink and sleep. We are human beings made in God’s image, not man’s image. I do not believe in evolution too much or the whole process, but I do believe other species have evolved as other prehistoric creatures have.
4. What happens to a person at death? I believe we die, go to the spirit world or “the other side”, wait for the second coming of Christ and see our judgment. In the spirit world, we continue to learn about gospel principles and live as if we were alive. I also believe that if we live a righteous life we go to spirit paradise, which is another part of the spirit world.
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? God has given us “agency,” which is also called “choice or choose” our own path in life, what is right and wrong and many other decisions. It is important to know things in the world, learn about God and his son. We are put here on earth to make decisions, choose a path, experience life, have trials, gain a physical body, be obedient to God’s commandments, live a righteous life and come back to God in Heaven.
6. How do we know what is right and wrong? We start learning what is right and wrong from when we are little children. Our parents teach us and we gain knowledge from there teachings. It is a human choice to want to do well, not to do evil. If we surround ourselves with those who are good and promote righteous thoughts; we are more opting to do well in our lives.
7. What is the meaning of human history? The purpose of God is to lead us in the right path, trust and have faith in him. God wants us to come back to him and in order to do that we have to be on a path that is righteous and obedient.
8. What personal, life-orienting core commitments are consistent with this worldview? I believe that obeying God’s Commandments, living a righteous life and share the gospel with others in my life. When you dedicate your life to God, your family comes second. Third, would be love, happiness and success.
-Dialogical Interview-
Who: Danae Azevedo
When: June 23, 2015
Where: Through email only
Relationship: Sister
I used some of my own questions to conduct my interview, but I can relate my questions to the Sire textbook questions. The questions and answers that I picked from the interview are the most intriguing aspects of the interview. Complexities, consistencies and inconsistencies were found.
1. What is your worldview and beliefs? This question relates to-- #1 (Sire, 2009, p.22). My sister believes that she is an agnostic in the sense that she accepts other’s worldviews and religions, as long as it is not pressured on her own life and the decision she chooses to make. She believes in free will and taking responsibility and reward for your own actions, accomplishments and mistakes. She also believes that if you want something bad enough, the only way to achieve it is to work hard, give it your all and ask for help when needed.
2. Can you imagine an existence with or without God? These questions relate to-- #1, 3 & 4 (Sire, 2009, p.22). She does not believe in God or a higher being. She believes that the existence of God was set forth a long time ago to create structure and order to a civilization that required change and sustainability to move forward in existence. Giving that a civilization with consequences to negative behaviors (Hell) or rewards to those who are righteous (Heaven) is like a government that may have been needed during primal civilizations. She does not believe that having principles (or religions) are necessary anymore since some people who have faith in a religion of consequences and reward still commit heinous crimes- as do people without religions as this is the world we live in—a world of war, theft, deceit, adultery and murder. She does, however believe that religious or spiritual affiliations help some people to cope with death or other difficult life situations as it may be easier to rely on a higher being to take the burden of death, corruption and ask for forgiveness or answer to prayers.
3. Have you ever felt a presence in your life? Such as God, spirit or other supernatural being? This question relates to--#2 (Sire, 2009, p.22). When she was a child, she thought she was religious, but only because people in our family believed in God. However, through her life experiences, education of evolution, government and various religions, she chosen not to believe in God.
4.

How has God changed your life? If God did not change your life, how did you overcome obstacles in your life? These questions relate to--#7 (Sire, 2009, p.23). She overcomes her obstacles with hard work, determination and support from family and friends.
5. How do you see the world today? This question relates to--#8 (Sire, 2009, p.23). She believes that the world is on the path of self-destruction. Countries fight wars for power and dominance of their governments, beliefs and practices. Humans treat the world as if it were disposable, as if there was another world to go to. There is no longer a sense of “thy neighbor.” People are always in a hurry, reluctant to help others and generally self-centered to their own worldviews.
6. Do you think prayer changes things in life or is it just your conscience that changes things? This question relates to--#5 (Sire, 2009, p.22). She thinks that it is helpful for some people to cope with difficult life situations. But she, herself does not believe in a supernatural being that actually listens to prayers, however, it may evoke change and motivation for people who need something accomplished or

“saved.”
7. What is most important to you in life on earth? This question relates to--#8 (Sire, 2009, p.23). Family, love, success, freedom, hope and to have a positive impact in some way or another on mankind or the world.
-Complexities, consistencies and inconsistencies-
The complex part of my sister’s interview was that she is agnostic and that she does not believe in God, but still believes that others can be helped by prayer; that is evoked by change and motivation.

The consistent part of her interview was that she focused on people who are affiliated with religion or spiritual aspects to help them cope with death or other difficult situations. Numbers 2 and 6 are consistent with each other in some aspect and number 2 and 5 are also consistent with each other. Some inconsistencies were also found, what was her true root to not believing in God- was it not consistent in her family? I know when we grew up together when we were younger, we never went to church all that much. Lastly, number 3 is inconsistent because evolution discredits religion and government is not related to Heaven in number

2.
-Compare and contrast-
The comparison between my sister and I and our worldviews are: we both believe that God created existence of civilization, an existence of Heaven and Hell, we live in a world of war and bad things happen, getting support from family when facing obstacles and things that are important in life: family, love, success, freedom and hope.
The contrast between both my sister and I and our worldviews are: that she does not believe in God and I do. She has a different outlook on life than I do. We have more differences than similarities. I also believe the world is on a path to destruction, but I also think there are good things still left here on earth. There are still people that are good and some will still go out of their way to help you. I believe the more you help others, the more others are more opt to help you.
In my conclusion, I discovered how hard it was to answer all 8 questions from the Sire textbook. It was a little bit harder to relate the questions I formulated for my sister’s interview to the Sire textbook. I did the best I could to try and relate most of the questions to the Sire textbook questions. Overall, I think both personal worldviews went well and I learned what my sister’s worldview truly is and how I could relate or not relate to her answers. The most intriguing aspect of the interview was that she believed that god created a civilization a long time ago to create structure, in my opinion I believe it was a little more complicated than that. God created our existence and everything surrounding us, whether it was a long time ago, it was also meant for us today.
The principles that were taught in Jesus Christ’s time are still being used today. The only thing that changes is man, not God. Back to the complexities, consistencies and inconsistencies to her interview; she had complexities within the first part of the interview. The consistencies and inconsistencies were also present. Finally, the compare and contrast of the interview; there were more differences than similarities. This interview has taught me how lucky I am for my own worldview and how it has impacted my answers to the questions for my personal worldview. I’m grateful for my beliefs and I would stand up and protect what I believe.