The Last Word (and the Word After That)

I just began reading Brian McLaren's new book called The Last Word annd the Word After That. This book is the final book of a Trilogy that began with A New Kind of Christian and continued with The Story We Find Ourselves In. I've just started it, so I don't really have a lot of thoughts about it except one that came to me this morning (I don't think it was necessarily something he said, but something that came to mind anyway). Are my thoughts on faith, politics, etc., shaped more by rational thought and study or simply by my context? Really, this is the at the crux of the postmodern theological conversation. It seems that often people are conservative republicans, for example, because their family has always been such and they have always been associated with conservative causes and organizations. Here's the question framed in a little different way. Did I find my theology or did my theology find me? I think that if I answer in the second case, then I am more likely to reformat my understandings of the world and to toss out ideas that don't seems to make sense any more. However, if I believe that my theology is the result of rational thought then I am much less likely to explore ideas that are counter to my preconceived notions.