Comments on: Christian, your flag, race, & gender do not define you!: Ben Witherington III on Social Identity

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:23:56 +0000

Yeah, I think that seems to be the general consensus around campus, from what I can tell. I think it’s definitely important for diversity to be emphasized (especially on such an un-diverse campus as HU), and the fact that people are getting so worked up about it, I think, is proof of that. But I would love to see more balance by emphasizing unity too. Maybe it’s as simple as emphasizing diversity within unity, rather than unity within diversity.

By: Kent Eilers

Kent Eilers — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:52:57 +0000

Ben, I understand your concern, and I am sure no one would want minority students to feel objectified through the process of emphasizing diversity this academic year.

Are you saying, then, that emphasizing diversity in terms of our “potential” unity in the body of Christ would better locate the problems associated with diversity? You seem to be saying that the diversity campaign is actually emphasizing our differences (“the many out of the one”), rather than affirming our common social identity in Christ. Is that what you are saying?

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:03:22 +0000

I wasn’t able to attend BW’s lecture on this at HU, but I really resonate with this, especially as it relates to HU’s diversity campaign. I’m not sure how the faculty view this campaign, but many of us students are frustrated by it, and I know many of the minority students feel objectified by it. I think it’s a great thing to focus on, but I think the university is going about it in an unhelpful way. One of BW’s quotes that I really liked was:

“But their oneness is not created by a mere common commitment to diversity and its potential goodness nor is it created by the fact that we are all human. That oneness is created by the Spirit of God who transforms and transfigures our previous identities.”

That’s what I would love to see more of on our campus: a focus on the unity that we have (potentially) in the Holy Spirit. I feel like the diversity focus is almost reversing E Pluribus Unum into “the many out of one.”