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“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of his thoughts.” – James Allen
“The recent 18-inch snowstorm and freezing temperatures caused disruption and made me short tempered.” According to James Allen, author of “As A Man Thinketh”, this poorly written statement is contrary to what he writes in his book. (Allen) The snow and temperatures didn’t cause anything. My thinking about them caused the “short temper”. I am responsible for my short temper, not the weather.
How do you know someone has an “attitude”? By observing behavior, correct? But, as James Allen makes emphatically clear, behavior is the effect not the cause. The dictionary confirms this. There are three parts to the definition of the word attitude: 1) the mind (thinking), 2) emotion, and 3) action (behavior). So, “if we change our thinking, we can change our emotional reactions and our actions”.
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl explained how we each can endure any suffering if we can see the long-term meaning and purpose of the suffering. (Frankl, 1984) Frankl survived suffering in a WWII concentration camp by thinking about the long-term meaning and how he could communicate it to help others, when he got home. His experience proved the ability to think differently results in different behaviors and different outcomes.
“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.” -St. Francis Sales
The political left and political right are as repelled by each other just as two poles of a magnet. The cause is their opposite world views.
The Two World Views
The Sermon on the Mount which is arguably Jesus’s most famous and impactful. Jesus outlines the attitudes (Beatitudes – Matthew 5:3-12) (Got Questions) necessary to please God, gain wisdom, and achieve everlasting life. Jesus wants us to think a certain way. “We are flawed and we need God to help us overcome our flaws.” The sermon and Beatitudes confirm the need to be responsible for managing our attitudes during adversity.
In his book “A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles”, Thomas Sowell provides a description of two world views causing our current political polarization. (Sowell, 2007)
The Constrained Vision (world view) acknowledges that humans are inherently flawed. James Madison justified the need for government, and the need for it to be constrained, with his famous quote.
“If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and the next place, oblige it to control itself.” – James Madison
Institutions and the rule of law provide guardrails for human self-interest flaws. The Original Sin in the Garden of Eden teaches us we must look to God for help to manage the flaws and limits in our morality. Adam was warned to obey God and when he didn’t, there were serious consequences. Thus, the Ten Commandments provide guardrails for humans, and the Constitution provides guardrails for government. The Bible and this Gospel are consistent with the Constrained Vision. The political right most often embraces the Constrained World View.
The Unconstrained Vision (worldview) sees humans as capable of moral and intellectual perfection. It’s therefore the flawed institutions that create problems, not human nature. (Sowell, 2007) The institutions must therefore be perfected to allow humans to reach perfection. In this vision we must “progress” toward more rules that can control the evil in society and move us closer to perfection (utopia). In this vision, evil can and must be controlled through bigger government and increased institutional rules. The political left most often embraces the Unconstrained Vision. The effort to eliminate systemic racism is an example of the Unconstrained Vision and the thinking of the political left.
Consequences of Each World View (Vision)
The Constrained Vision encourages personal responsibility, as does the Bible.
“The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them” - Ezekiel 18:20
“We reap what we sow, and the righteous will enjoy the fruits of their deeds” (Galatians 6:7) is a biblical principle consistent with the Constrained Vision. In this world view, there are consequences for breaking the rule of law and there are rewards for behaving consistent with biblical principles.
The Unconstrained Vision encourages victimhood. If the institutions are flawed and humans are capable of perfection, this view asks, “how can we hold victims responsible for their deeds?” In this world view the victims must be supported because there are reasons (excuses) for their poor behaviors. In this world view, when the criminal harms others, it’s because of their circumstances. In this world view, criminals are seen as victims of the flawed institutions and victims of the oppressors. They must be protected. The ends justify the means.
Examples
Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, has a primary mission to engage and educate high-school and college students in conservative principles. The primary method is to debate the ideas of both world views (political left and political right). He was assassinated on September 10th, 2025.
The Constrained Vision called for the condemnation of violence and the reinforcement of the need for more free speech, not less. There was zero violence at Kirk’s memorial service held on September 21st even though the State Farm Stadium was filled at more than 63,000. Thousands more were waiting outside. Voter registration booths were set up reinforcing the idea that change can happen by following the rule of law, not rioting.
The prayerful messages by speakers were about forgiveness, worship, and love (not hate). There were calls for fighting evil using political influence, free speech and love, not violence.
Those who embrace the Unconstrained Vision blamed Kirk for his own demise because of his “hateful” speech. The justification was his opposition to gun control, gender ideology, and abortion, etc. Kirk encouraged victims, including criminals, transgender children, pregnant women, to become leaders of their own thinking and change behaviors.
Kirk was seen as an oppressor. His death was justified by some, especially his accused murderer. Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, was quoted in text messages to his roommate as saying: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. “ The “ends justify the means” is a philosophy of the left and the Unconstrained Vision. (Wally Hauck, The Political Left Uses the Evil “The Ends Justifies the Means” to Achieve Goals, 2025)
The ICE protests in Minnesota also exemplifies the Unconstrained Vision. The illegals (even the criminal ones) are victims of the flawed institutions and therefore they must be protected. The Constrained Vision represented by ICE and the Trump administration represent personal responsibility and the rule of law. The violent protests and law breaking are therefore justified because the victims (the illegals) must be protected.
One result of this vision is that illegals and illegal criminals are a higher priority than the victims of mass illegal immigration. Mass unplanned immigration caused thousands to lose their lives to violence, millions to have difficulty finding jobs and housing, and thousands of children and women were trafficked. (Trump White House, 2018) It seems the Unconstrained Vision justifies emotionally unintelligent reactions.
Connecticut Senator Murphy has exemplified the Unconstrained Vision perfectly in his recent statement about ICE:
“We’re still pretending that ICE is going after dangerous people? They aren’t. Right now, 70% of the people that they are detaining have absolutely no criminal record. “ICE is tear gassing elementary schools. It is disappearing legal residents into cars. It is murdering American citizens. ICE is making this country less safe, not more safe. That’s not a system that anybody in this country wants to fund.” -Senator Chris Murphy
You may want to fact-check him. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports 70% of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens. (Homeland Security, 2026) Those who embrace the Unconstrained Vision will likely not believe these facts because they believe the DHS and ICE are flowed and must be defunded.
Summary
Life situations can seem dire. Our world view during these times will influence our attitude which will influence our outcomes. Victor Frankl, James Allen, and the Bible give us hope to be resilient if we adopt the correct world view. And Thomas Sowell has described two opposing world views (visions), each of which results in totally different outcomes.
Marxism encourages division and envy between two disparate groups, namely the oppressed and oppressors. Marxism supports a victim mentality. (Wally Hauck, Victim mentality, 2025) and justifies dependence, envy, discontent, anger, and even violence (Public Broadcasting System, 2025).
Sowell’s description of the Unconstrained Vision seems to be consistent with Marxist philosophy and explains the justification for the anger and rioting in Minneapolis. Sowell’s description of the Constrained Vision seems to explain the calm prayerful forgiveness of the Charlie Kirk memorial.
Which mindset do you embrace? Which is healthier? Which delivers better results? Which is consistent with our Founder’s world view? Is it fair to say as our country’s rejection of Biblical principles explains how the political left is known for the envy, anger, violence, and destruction in Minneapolis?
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