II. Influences

Many sources have influenced the development of my convictions.

I will name some now that I think have triggered major turning points in the evolution of my worldview.

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A. Liberating Religion and Unitarian Universalism

As a tradition, Unitarian Universalism derives from a history that - when it culminates in the present, Unitarian Universalist form which I experience at the church in which I participate - richly helps to satisfy my needs for understanding, personal growth and evolution, acceptance, connectedness and inspiration.

When my parents married, my father described himself as a freethinking non-churchgoer, while my mother described herself as a devout, Roman Catholic. Some years after they married, however, and as my mother later explained to me repeatedly, her thinking changed, and she drifted from the Catholic Church.

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In time, my parents felt attracted to a local, Unitarian Universalist church. Such congregations often have provided religious homes both for those who have departed from other, religious commitments and for interfaith couples.

Starting as a young boy, I attended services and religious education classes at a Unitarian Universalist church. After high school and as a young adult, I didn't attend services too often.

During recent years, though, my interest in Unitarian Universalism rekindled. In April of 1999, a Unitarian Universalist minister officiated the ceremony in which Cherita and I married. In May of 2005, Cherita and I joined the membership of the same church in which I'd "grown up."

So perhaps, like my childhood home, my childhood house of worship has exerted a "boomerang effect" on me.

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Turning now to its serious consideration, by my understanding and in my experience, as a liberating religion (often called a liberal religion), Unitarian Universalism emphasizes the need of each individual to use one's own reason and conscience in the process of formulating, adopting and acting on personal principles of a religious and/or philosophical nature.

(I'm grateful to Don Beaudreault, minister at Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist, for introducing me in one of his sermons to his "liberating religion" word choice as an alternative to "liberal religion." For him and for me, "liberating religion" more fully and accurately captures the dynamic rather than static nature of the religion.)

Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal religion. This means that it does not require participants to affirm a specific doctrine or creed in order to join its congregations. It respects the right of its participants not to believe. Indeed, it celebrates a heritage of schisms and heresy. At the same time, Unitarian Universalism encourages a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning."

In its effort to build compassionate community and to promote life-enriching change in the world, Unitarian Universalism aspires to develop both a radically inclusive and pluralistic culture. By this I mean that it explicitly welcomes the participation of individuals of all sorts of religious and philosophical backgrounds and views, including (but not limited to) Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, pagans, atheists and much more.

The Religious Education classes in which I participated as a young boy in the UU church that I attended with my family often discussed the world's religions comparatively. This helped me to appreciate that many different religious ideas exist in different people and cultures.

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B. Childhood Stories and their Sense of Adventure

Starting as a young boy, I enjoyed watching Speed Racer television reruns and reading comic books that featured super heroes such as Batman and Spider-Man. My mother also told me years later that she noticed that as a young boy I clearly felt enamored about Lynda Carter in her role as Wonder Woman (which later became my nickname for Cherita). In the theater, when it was new, I experienced the first-ever-released Star Wars movie. I also read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and for a time followed the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Emotionally, I felt gripped in relation to each such experience. Even though I resonated with such art works primarily in how I took them both emotionally and on a "sense of life" level, I also felt eager to take their inspiration and to use it to reflect on real life.

I loved what I took to be these art works' conviction in a) the grand, adventurous possibilities of human life and b) the power of the individual to make choices that can create a positive difference in the world.

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C. Lutheran Christianity, Official Doctrine, and Non-Creedal Religion

During junior high, for three years, for educational rather than religious reasons, I attended a Lutheran school. Although I didn't convert to Lutheran Christianity, while attending daily Religion classes and while attending weekly, school-wide Chapel services in the Lutheran church, I learned much about this particular institution's Christian teachings and practices.

Given that I then participated in Lutheran Christianity on weekdays while I immersed myself in Unitarian Universalism on many Sundays, my experiences gave me the opportunity to compare and contrast the two.

(I've written more in this About Me area about Unitarian Universalism and my church participation in an earlier section, here.)

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On the one hand, I understood the Lutheran approach as creedal. Given that it expected its members to affirm a specific and declared doctrine, with time and reflection, it seemed to me to exclude rather than include. By contrast, I understood the UU approach as non-creedal. I understood it to welcome variety inclusively.

Ultimately, I chose the Unitarian Universalist path. Even so, educationally, developmentally and socially, I remember my time at the Lutheran school fondly.

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D. The Rock Band, Rush

A rock band? How on earth could a rock band exert a significant influence on my intellectual, spiritual and personal development?

It did, though.

In junior high, the music and lyrics of a rock group called Rush first captured my attention. Gradually over the years my interest developed and - as I elaborate in a subsequent section of this About Me area - eventually affected me in far-reaching ways.

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E. World History in High School

"History is boring!"

It wasn't for me.

As a freshman in high school, I took a course in world history that a man named J Milton McGinnis taught. I enjoyed his presence and teaching more than that of any other teacher during the whole of my prior, school experience.

With him, history struck me not as dry, but as colorful and dramatic, involving passionate, human struggles taking place over the course of thousands of years. Moreover, understanding history seemed relevant to living a fulfilling life now.

When I discovered that a recurring theme in history seemed to be the willingness of different people and cultures - in the name of different conceptions of God and religion - to wage war against and kill one another, I also felt deeply concerned.

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F. Ayn Rand and Objectivism

"Ayn Rand's novels certainly aren't literature. She's nothing more than a pop 'philosopher.' No one serious takes her seriously!"

And yet an influence that some consider laughable I took seriously.

As a sophomore in high school - inspired by the words "lyrics by Neil Peart with acknowledgement to the genius of Ayn Rand," which appeared in the liner notes of the 1976 Rush recording, 2112 - I discovered the work of Ayn Rand. This Russian-born, American novelist and nonacademic philosopher wrote novels that included The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

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In her fiction and nonfiction, Rand introduced to me her vision, sense of life and the philosophy that she called Objectivism. With her fiction writing especially, she triggered in me: fascination; hope that human life (mine included) offered grand, adventurous possibilities; and encouragement that each individual enjoys the power to make choices that can create a positive difference in the world. With her nonfiction especially, she stimulated confidence in me that philosophy overwhelmingly influences both the world and me personally.

Rand and Objectivism so captured my imagination that for many years I described myself as "an Objectivist."

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G. History of Philosophy in High School

Now surely, even if in high school the history of the world proved somehow not to stimulate boredom in me, didn't the history of philosophy induce sleep?

Again, my experience differed.

As a senior in high school, driven by my Rand-inspired passion for philosophy, I took another course that the same teacher whose presentation I had so enjoyed during my freshman, world history class (J Milton McGinnis) also taught. Now, though, I took a course devoted to studying the history of philosophy.

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This second course emphasized the development of western philosophy from the ancient Greeks forward. It also highlighted the manner in which, across the centuries, in the western tradition, philosophical debates have developed.

In my opinion, this course helped me to deepen not only my appreciation for philosophical thinking, but also for the interrelationship between philosophical ideas and the unfolding of history.

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H. Beyond Ayn Rand

"So, Vid, you've entitled this section 'Beyond Ayn Rand?' Does this mean that you finally outgrew your adolescent attachment to Rand?"

I wouldn't put it that way. In important ways, though, I did end up moving beyond Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism.

On my own, I continued reading and enjoying Rand's books, as well as the work of others whom she had influenced (including, for example, self-esteem writer Nathaniel Branden). My enthusiasm for Rand's Objectivism and for calling myself "an Objectivist" persisted for many years.

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In recent years, however, I've evolved such that I now disagree with many aspects of Rand's philosophy. I especially wish to avoid emulating what I now regard as her moralistic judgment and I no longer call myself "an Objectivist." In my consciousness and action I wish to centrally emphasize such practices as acceptance and non-sacrificial, mutually invigorating compassion which Rand (and, in my experience, most other, self-described Objectivists) don't emphasize remotely as much as I prefer to do. In addition, I've developed many key ideas in my own system of ideas that in my judgment differ significantly from Rand's.

Notwithstanding my differences with her, Rand has impacted me in numerous ways that I still regard as major and positive, and I'm both happy and grateful to acknowledge such influences.

With the help of my various influences I've continued to evolve my own worldview. That worldview differs in many ways from Objectivism, even while I feel confident that numerous aspects of what I've learned from that philosophy continue to help me in various ways.

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I. Chris Matthew Sciabarra and Dialectics

A few years ago, at a time when I was rethinking my worldview and grappling with aspects of Ayn Rand's philosophy with which I didn't any longer agree, I finally explored a book the existence of which I'd known about for years but which I'd not yet managed to read. It was a book with which I didn't expect to fall in love. Yet I did. I ended up reading the whole thing (the first time through, that is) in something like two days' time.

That book was Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical by Chris Matthew Sciabarra. During the course of my post-Randian, post-Objectivist evolution, Chris's work has profoundly assisted me in teasing out that in Ayn Rand's work with which I still resonate.

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I also deeply resonate with Chris's emphasis on "dialectics," which he most simply defines as "the art of context keeping." What I've learned from dialectical method continues to factor significantly as I further develop my worldview.

In time, in addition to reading and benefiting from the rest of Chris's books, I also wrote to him. For years now, I've profoundly enjoyed and felt grateful both for our correspondence and our friendship.

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J. Damian Moskovitz, "Moralism in Objectivism," Eckhart Tolle and Buddhism

The next, major stage in the development of my worldview involved my discovery of the viewpoint of Damian Moskovitz.

I had met and chatted with Damian at two different Summer Seminars sponsored by The Objectivist Center (now The Atlas Society). I had noticed that at one of these, during a Participant Sponsored Session, Damian had given a talk on the subject, "Moralism in Objectivism."

When he had given it at the seminar I had missed Damian's talk. Even so, I had seen the flier that had announced it. Given my long-standing interest in the subject matter, I felt regretful that I had missed it. I felt sufficiently curious that I chose to contact Damian later to express my interest in reading a transcript of his talk if he happened to possess one.

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Based on our continued communications, not only did I discover that Damian did have a transcript that he was willing to let me read, but also that he had audio recorded a live presentation that he had made of the same talk when he had presented it to a group in California.

After I had reviewed Damian's talk, I felt so engaged and inspired that I asked him if he would be willing also to give me permission to post it to the website of a group for which I then coordinated activities. (That group was the Triangle Objectivists, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and which still meets in that area.) Since my wife, daughter and I moved away from Raleigh, that website disappeared; my website came to life; and Damian's talk moved to (and ever since, has remained on) my website. (Damian's talk now remains here).

To a degree that I had never before experienced, Damian's talk helped me to deepen my appreciation for and understanding of the topics of moralism, acceptance and compassion. In addition, Damian helped to stimulate my interest in Buddhism, mindfulness meditation, and the work of Eckhart Tolle, author of the book, The Power of Now. In my estimation, ever since discovering Damian's talk, as I've developed my worldview, I've embraced crucial influences from each such source. I'm confident that I will continue to learn more from and to be deeply affected by these and related influences.

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Damian also drew my attention to an email discussion list founded by Joshua Zader called the Mudita Forum.

Mudita Forum is a moderated discussion group for individuals with an interest both in Ayn Rand's ideas (such as her philosophy of Objectivism) and in the consciousness-raising practices associated with Eastern thinking...

The purpose of Mudita Forum is to provide a stimulating, thoughtful environment for discussing Eastern consciousness-raising practices - such as meditation, mindfulness, and the cultivation of presence - while using Objectivism as a basic philosophical frame-of-reference.

I have felt gratitude and appreciation (and I expect to continue to) in relation to my participation in the Mudita Forum which has helped satisfy my need for learning - which learning, when I've applied it, has deepened my understanding and inner peace.

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K. Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication and Communicating Compassionately

In September 2005, through a series of workshops that I learned about and in which I then participated at a Unitarian Universalist church, I discovered something which still stimulates more excitement in me about the evolution of my worldview and practical action than probably anything that I've read since I first discovered the work of Ayn Rand.

(I've written more, earlier in this About Me area, about Ayn Rand, Objectivism and my estimate of their influence on me here and here. I've also written more, also earlier in this About Me area, about Unitarian Universalism, my church participation and my estimate of their influence on me here. In addition, I've written about my church participation in my March 26, 2006 Affirmation, which I've included as a Postscript in this About Me area.)

The something that I discovered with such excitement in September 2005 (and many things about which I've learned in connection with it) has provided me with the equivalent of a road map for the next stage of my personal, philosophical and spiritual evolution. And that something has done so including by further clarifying for me 1) in relation to what in Rand's approach I now feel unsatisfied and why 2) in relation to what, within that approach, I still resonate and why and 3) in relation to what in Unitarian Universalism and in my now, deeply engaging church participation I feel profoundly satisfied and why.

That something is the process that Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. presents in his book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life from PuddleDancer Press. If there were one nonfictional book that I would like to persuade nearly anyone to read immediately, this would be it.

I've fallen in love with the language, principles and underlying spirit of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). (NVC and Nonviolent Communication are also sometimes referred to by other names, such as "Compassionate Communication," "Speaking Peace" or even "Tongue Fu." ) Rosenberg's process deeply satisfies my needs for clarity, accessibility, specificity and practicality... and yet, when I examine that process closely, it also helps me to more deeply satisfy my needs for philosophical and personal challenge - and growth.

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In the sense that I classify them as fundamental and dialectical, NVC and related principles even strike me as (dare I say it?) wonderfully radical.

Nothing has clarified for me more fully than NVC why I want to let go of moralistic judgment. In my present interpretation, such moralistic judgment qualifies as a much deeper than merely stylistic impulse in Rand and Objectivism. To my even deeper satisfaction than I experienced when I first enjoyed Damian Moskovitz's talk, "Moralism in Objectivism" (in relation to which I felt profoundly moved and which I still especially recommend to self-described "Objectivists," and about which I've written more in this About Me area in the previous section, here), Rosenberg has helped me to understand such moralistic judgment.

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Thanks to Marshall Rosenberg's influence, in essence, in principle and in practice, I remain deeply committed to the perspective that we most fully satisfy our needs only if we communicate with one another in a manner that eliminates any moralistic judgment, manipulation or coercion and instead replaces such tragic strategies with compassionate ones. In addition, Rosenberg has called my attention to subtleties, nuances and subtexts in our language that I'm now convinced contribute overwhelmingly to such tragedies as oppression and violence.

More importantly, though, in my judgment, the principles of this process speak volumes regarding what even one person can do (now quoting from the book's cover) to "Create Your Life, Your Relationships and Your World in Harmony with Your Values." In connection with my exposure to the work of Marshall Rosenberg, in my communication I've experienced passionate engagement and rejuvenated energy.

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I feel delight that I've started three groups myself which meet at church and which focus on the spirit and practice of assertive, authentic, compassionate communication grounded in our understanding of the principles that Marshall Rosenberg has articulated. Although I'm not a certified trainer, I love talking with others about this process.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a registered service mark of the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), an organization founded by Marshall Rosenberg, the website for which is located at cnvc.org. The CNVC makes available certified NVC training. To help clarify both 1) that the training and support that I offer is not so certified and 2) that it involves my own interpretation, at church I refer to my own offerings related to this process as Communicating Compassionately (or "Communicating with Compassion" or "CC").

Although Marshall Rosenberg doesn't label himself (nor would I label him) as an Objectivist, to my amazement and in my opinion, he upholds many principles that resemble or overlap with key principles of Objectivist philosophy in ways with which I still resonate.

Per my understanding and interpretation, such common areas between Marshall Rosenberg’s approach and Objectivism include the following.

• making reference to a foundation of specifically observable, objective facts
• championing of individual autonomy and choice, the authentic needs of the self, and integrity
• keen awareness of the crucial need to take personal responsibility for one's every choice, action and even feeling
• rejection of the notion that human beings are "born evil"
• rejection of self-sacrifice and related compromise - including all forms of "giving up" or "giving in"
• championing of consensual, mutually informed relationships that lack any element of coercion or manipulation
• conviction in the harmony of authentic, fundamental human needs (or "interests")
• advocacy of "win-win" interactions grounded in the understanding that given this fundamental harmony, conflicts arise only at the level of chosen strategies, and that individuals can modify such strategies in ways that can more fully meet their needs
• rejection of domination (or "power over") relationships both in personal and political spheres, in favor of mutually beneficial (or "power with") relationships that genuinely serve human life
• championing the need to maintain one’s integrity regardless of the institutional structure in which one finds oneself

I'm grateful that the organizer of The Atlas Society (TAS) Summer Seminar 2007 in July, as part of the official program, approved our proposal, and invited my dear friend and colleague, Fran Hill, and me, so that we led there a three-session workshop on Assertive Communication. We based this series on Marshall Rosenberg's work yet customized it for an Ayn Rand-inspired and largely Objectivist audience.

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L. Walter Kaufmann and Without Guilt and Justice

While still immersed in what I've been learning from Marshall Rosenberg, one of his recommendations led me to a discovery that I've welcomed with both gratitude and excitement. While watching an intermediate level training DVD in the series, Making Life Wonderful, I understood that Marshall Rosenberg recommended reading a book as an aid to learning why Nonviolent Communication asks that we learn to relinquish the concept of "deserving" either reward or punishment. Specifically, Rosenberg recommended the 1973 book Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy by then Princeton professor of philosophy Walter Kaufmann.

I've read the book once completely and I've begun slowly reading it again.

When I now read this book I feel deeply impressed and moved. I've embraced its influence both with what Marshall Rosenberg recommended in it and with additional aspects of its content.

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Such additional aspects include its discussion of "decidophobia" (the fear of making fateful decisions); the lingering - and in my opinion malignant - residue in our culture (and even in Objectivism) of one, decidophobic strategy in particular (Manichaeism); and the book's advocacy of what Kaufmann refers to as "the canon," which he urges us to apply in the process of making decisions.

"The canon" - "the heart of rationality, the essence of scientific method, and the meaning of intellectual integrity" according to Kaufmann - involves asking and answering seven questions with respect to our own and others' propositions, views, beliefs, hypotheses or convictions.

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The questions of the canon are [page 178]:

1. What does this mean?
2. What speaks for it?
3. What speaks against it?
4. What alternatives are available?
5. What speaks for each?
6. What speaks against each?
7. What alternatives are most plausible in light of such considerations?

With his discussion of what he calls "the New Integrity," Kaufmann likewise satisfies my need for stimulation and understanding.

Although I don't agree with everything in the book, I resonate with so much that's in it. I'm deeply grateful to have the opportunity to challenge my principles and practices with its insights and from these to draw inspiration for my personal growth.

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M. The Evolution of my Personal Worldview - and my Living Action Website

With the help of such influences, and many others, I've felt joy in developing my own, systematic worldview and spiritual practice, ever more fully meeting such needs of mine as for meaning, understanding, intelligibility, self-expression, clarity and progress. Even though that worldview draws substantially from the various sources that I've mentioned, by my standards, it also differs significantly from any other orientation with which I'm familiar.

With this website, my mission is

to communicate with compassion and imagination in a manner that honors the human potential, celebrates the joy of life and helps satisfy my need to contribute both to my own and others' well being.

In line with this mission, among other purposes, I have a triple purpose: 1) to gradually articulate my vision and system of ideas more fully; 2) to apply that vision and system to new topics and practices each day; and 3) to ever more fully meet both my own and others' needs. These include needs for meaning, understanding, intelligibility, self-expression, clarity, progress and to contribute.

By engaging in the adventure of meeting such needs I believe we stimulate joy, happiness and fulfillment in both ourselves and others.

So I invite you to participate with me in my journey.

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