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Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!

Sowell never frames it as Christian world view vs. non-Christian. But you can definitely see the fingerprints of a belief in God with the Constrained Vision! (and a casting-off of that constraint in the Unconstrained Vision) Personally, this causes conflict in me when I try to straddle or reconcile the two visions.

For instance, much of our business is in the general self-help category. We facilitate programs to help people reach their goals and change behaviors accordingly to achieve what they want. The programs were written by a believer, but since they are for wide dissemination to business leaders, most references to God are left out of these (not in the author's more personal writings however). So there is a theme of, "You can do or be anything you set your mind to - you have unlimited potential," in all of these materials.

Personally, I know this is false, however I'm paid to facilitate these ideas. Many times Christians take these programs and get very good results, but so do nonbelievers, and they also get good results. Oftentimes the Christian participant realizes that as it says in Proverbs, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, yet it is the Lord's purpose that prevails," and set their goals accordingly prioritized. In other words, they realize there is an ultimate constraint by the Almighty in this universe, and real wisdom and freedom is in seeking Him and His purpose.

The Al Anon handbook is written from the same perspective, not Christian per se, but based on human nature, including both God's creation and the fall of man.

I don't see the conflict with telling people, "You can do or be anything you set your mind to - you have unlimited potential." All sports coaches say the same thing. It pushes us to know our limits. Obviously the "unlimited potential" needs realistic limits, but when our minds are stuck in the mud with self-imposed restrictions, coaching like this is beneficial.