Explorations

Enlighten me: Discrimination and Inequality...part 1

***WARNING*** this post contains quotes from the Communist Manifesto and the Bible

Introduction:
Given recent events in Australia working out a coherent and practical approach to questions of discrimination and inequality are more urgent than ever. Unfortunately, there are some serious obstacles to doing so, not least the fact that discrimination usually has a lot more to do with emotion, ignorance and plain evil self-centredness than it does with any intelligent moral/logical principles. It doesn't help either, that no one actually knows what discrimination means.

Leaving aside the twisted self-justification behind a lot of discrimination, even intelligent approaches to this issue will differ on the basis of worldview. Christianity, like any worldview, should lead to certain behaviours and attitudes, but can and has been twisted to justify any immoral behaviour people wanted. Hence some people associate Christianity with the firey-cross, right-wing ethics of psycho fanatics, and others think of Jesus as some cuddly hippy teddy bear. C.S. Lewis' tells us in Mere Christianity "...we are approaching [Christianity] in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party. We are looking for an ally where we are offered either a Master or a Judge."

Since, as a Bible-believing Christian (...run for the hills!), and a woman with a disability specialising in the study of foreign cultures, this is an issue very close to my heart. I've been trying for a while to work things out. So here are some of my thoughts. I'm not claiming to represent all Christians or to be divinely inspired...but I'm trying to base what I have to say on an educated understanding of the Bible and "I think that I too have the Spirit of God." This post will be the first of several on this topic so keep reading my updates and please feel free to comment.

Some Basic Principles
There are some simple tricks that people use to twist the Bible to their own ends, and some simple misconceptions that confuse the well-intentioned.
Many common misconceptions of the Bible are the result of a failure to understand the basic principles of Bible interpretation. Two things that are particularly pertinent are the principles of "biblical theology" and interpretation in context. Biblical theology is quite complex, but one thing it means is that God revealed himself progressively to the world, just like we are taught concepts progressively at school. Some things are said and done earlier in the Bible are to prepare the way for things later in the Bible, and are thus fulfilled and made obsolete by later events and teachings. (eg. see Galatians 4:1-7, Hebrews 10:1-10) This becomes particularly important in issues of racism (Compare Deuterony 3:1-7 and Colossians 3:11) , ableism (Compare Leviticus 21:16-24 & Luke 14:21-4)and homophobia. South Africa's use of the Old Testament was a tragic example of poor Biblical theology

Interpreting the Bible in context means basically applying the same common sense to it that you would to any work of philosophy or literature. If you interpret Elizabeth's refusal of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice without reference to the whole story you will think her mean , and if you don't interpret the whole story in its cultural context, you won't realise what a courageous woman Elizabeth Bennet actually was to refuse two proposals. In the same way it is important to interpret parts of hte Bible with reference to the whole, and to interpret the whole Bible with reference to the context in which it was written. How to translate the Bible from its original culture into ours is a topic of hot debate, but in reality, the Bible itself often gives you clues as to whether the particular command is meant to be transcultural, or what the transcultural principle behind the command might be. These issues often arise in the context of discussions regarding gender, sexuality and classism. For example, the argument that the rules concerning sexuality are outdated in our open liberal society can be easily debunked by a quick examination of the institution of pederasty.

Finally, it is important to realise that you're particular point of view, no matter how dearly you hold it, is not the pinnacle of human enlightenment (shock!). You're only human so whatever you think is bound to be flawed somewhere. You need to take a leaf out of Descartes' book and question our most basic preconceptions.

What is Discrimination/Prejudice and Why is it Wrong?

Diversity, equality and freedom and are the three watchwords of our society. Infringing on these through prejudice and discrimination are considered mortal sins. In my circle, when issues of discrimination come up, the trio, "sexist, racist or homophobic" often emerges as a sort of checklist of what to avoid. Nobody really tells you why they're to be avoided...but my mind, raised as it has been in the liberal West, also recoils from prejudice and discrimination instinctively...they're bad, they just are.However, when I started to think about it, I realised that things are a lot more complicated than that, and a failure to account for this leaves the good guys open to attack. Will an intelligent and Christian approach have different fundamental principles and definitions?

Well, freedom, equality and a proper appreciation of diversity are so far from existing in our society that I should most certainly hope so! The world is diverse, always has been and always will be, and yet people are trying to genetically engineer, outlaw or segregate people who don't fit with the desires of the dominant people in society. And when differences cannot be reconciled, as often happens on the issue of morals, for example, the pitfalls within the quagmire of relativism are so great that noone has really been able to come up with a way in which all sides can coexist. As far as equality goes...1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day...enough said. And regarding freedom...well those people can't even choose to cross a border without risking their lives

I can't help but think that Marx was on the right track, when he said Modern Western society "... has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation." The "freedom" and "equality" that we cherish is nothing but a smokescreen. The free market does not equal freedom, a 'level playing field' does not equal equality. These are just ways of making capitalism work, there's no higher principle involved, and all it means is that those from former undreclasses who are genetically or financially well-endowed are able to move up. Today's rhetoric draws attention to their improvement, so that we can feel enlightened. Even the trio, "sexist, racist, homophobic" points to the forms of discrimination that Western capitalism can at least claim to have done away with. Those that are still foundational to our society like ageism, classism, ableism, 'locationism',nationalism these are all swept under the carpet, despite the suffering that they cause everyday. (Of course these forms of discrimination are also related to and brutally reinforce aspects of the supposedly abolished "sexist, racist, homophobic" trio.) I mean, how is it fair that some Sub-Saharan African lives in grinding poveryt while we have all the fun, how is it equality that people with disabilities spend their entire lives locked away in institutions? How is it diversity when women can be thrown out of pariliament for breastfeeding?

What about biblical principles then? They too place some value on freedom, equality and diversity. However, more basically, the principle is Love God (this includes obeying his rules) and Love your neighbour as yourself. I was surprised and struck as to the extent to which many forms of discrimination are so dramatically contrary to these principles....hmm I think a good place to stop. Tune in for hte next exciting episode...

posted by Foodfairy @ 11:34 PM