Whatever you believe must deal with these questions

Last week, I couldn't sleep, and began to wonder about a statement that I heard, "For something to be true, it must be true in all avenues of life." I must not have gotten it quite right, because I can't google it anywhere. If you find the original, let me know.  In any case the following comments came out of that sleepless hour....

As one considers the foundation for their world view, there are universal questions that need to be dealt with in any view of life. The greatness of these questions means that any view will have difficulty in fully satisfying them. Yet any view that fails to adequately deal with them cannot be considered valid. These questions include:

Material questions:

1. The question of origins. Did the physical universe always exist, or did it come to be? It appears from the Law of Entropy that the universe must have had a beginning point. One could postulate that the Law of Entropy had a start point. If the universe came to be, how could it have begun? If the universe had a beginning, what was there before the beginning?
2. The question of complexity. What explanations are possible for the complexity of the genetic code, the balance of nature and vastness of space.
3. The question of eternity. What does “forever” mean?

Ethical Questions:

4. The question of evil.
5. The question of evil in me. If there is a true measure of what ought to be, and if I fall short, what prevents me from attaining that true measure?
6. The question of morality and ethics. Is there a standard of right and wrong?

Spiritual Questions:

7. The question of personality. Does the presence of personality in human beings and in other creatures point to a higher personality?
8. The question meaning in the face of decay and death, The certainty of my own death and the death of all whom I might influence and the reality of the eventual decay of everything causes me to question the purpose and meaning of life and of the world. Is meaning to be found in this world, or is meaning to be found beyond this world?
9. The question of love and beauty. Is an understanding of love and beauty essential to an understanding of the world, or is it possible to have a world view that does not assign value to love and beauty?

Rational Questions:

10. The question of consistency. How can I explain the apparent presence of universal constants, physical, mathematical, logical, spiritual? These form the basis of discovery, the basis of reason and argument, and the basis a view of life. These constants are necessary for any discussion to take place.
11. The question of truth. Is there truth, and is there a way to discover truth? Is there a means to weigh truth and opinions about truth? Is all truth found by searching? What other means of attaining truth may be considered? Is truth knowable?
12. The question of responsibility. Is there a responsibility of each person to determine and to sift out what is true and to live in accordance with truth? Is it enough to attempt to seek truth? What is the consequence of living in a way that does not cohere with truth?

A system of belief must be able to answer these questions. The law of consequence would suggest that living by an incomplete system will bring one into conflict with the laws of the universe. It would appear that there must be only one system, and that such a system will have consistency, coherence, and universal application. One must not assume that one belief system will be as good as another, and one must reject a system of belief on grounds of personal preference or history.