Answers in Genesis

If there is one thing I have learned from my time on this earth it is that truth and reality are all relative to the POV and perspective that one is coming from. I come from a family of born-again Christians...except for me. I'm the shamanic, animistic, vedantic, Taoist, lesbian hedonist of the bunch. But, seriously, just as my sibling's viewpoints are formed by their faith and beliefs, so is mine...it's just that what we have faith and belief in is different. Please don't get me wrong, I think that every individuals experience of 'reality' is informed by their experience and as such each one is valid in it's own way, for that person; but, that's part of my perspective on reality. And, similarly, I think whatever we believe also informs our experience as well...hence 'believing is seeing'.

Just like in this article, my born-again family members use the Bible as the foundation of their faith and belief, and God's word informs their perspective on creation. And, I imagine their beliefs would be very much in line with what this website promotes. As a matter of fact, I also agree when they say things like "...we have a set of presuppositions to build a way of thinking which enables us to interpret the evidence of the present. Evolutionists have certain beliefs about the past/present that they presuppose, e.g. no God (or at least none who performed acts of special creation), so they build a different way of thinking to interpret the evidence of the present. Thus, when Christians and non-Christians argue about the evidence, in reality they are arguing about their interpretations based on their presuppositions." It's just that we have different presuppositions, which lead to different interpretations and conclusions about creation/evolution.

My perspective and belief system is informed by my shamanic experiences and training (Plant Spirit Medicine, shamanic drum journeys, healing rituals with Shipibo shaman and their teacher plants), Vedic Astrology and Vedanta studies (including karma and reincarnation) as well as my training in TCM and Taoism that inform and shape my world view. From those and personal mystical experiences, I have come to believe that reality is a projection of our belief systems and thus very malleable; it changes over time as our perceptions grow and develop. At least that has been my personal experience.

I would also agree with the ideas on this website that there are divine underpinnings to reality and a divine genesis to the world and universe as we know it; however, that's where the similarity stops. Because, where as these folks take a specifically Christian perspective to creation and genesis, I believe that all of creation is a reflection of its inherent divinity. And as such everything reflects that divinity. In other words: all paths are one. Whatever your religious or spiritual belief system, understanding of God/Spirit/Creator is true for you and ultimately will lead you home to the same place we are all travelling toward: self-knowledge...or understanding our selves as children and creations of the same divine creator/goddess/spirit.