Though I’m not as familiar with the language issues here, I have done a lot of thinking about the more general concepts of multicultural education, and I think that it behooves Christians to support multicultural education.
The concept of “one national culture” is stifling to authentically Christian expressions of faith in the public square. Our attempts to develop a “national culture” in the US have led, most unfortunately, to the adoption of civil religion. Personally, I get frustrated by the Religious Right’s efforts to meld Christian faith into US political culture. As a Christ-follower, I think it’s better to bring a Christian voice (authentically) into the public square (here education) and let it speak to the multiplicity of perspectives that are being shared in the setting. If we truly live in a pluralistic setting, then we must be open to this exchange.
I think that the perspectives of marginalized groups also have much to offer the Christian life. There is much that marginality has in common with a Christ-following perspective. It does us good to walk in others’ shoes to see how they might experience God’s world. Their read on Scripture, their read on political events, their read on arts and entertainment tells us what voices the culture is listening to and helps us step out of our saturated selves into something like a fresh perspective.
So, I guess while I support education that gives students a sense of the history of the West, I would ask…what part of the West is important? And, from a Christian perspective…what voices ought we be listening to that might shape our life and practice? Where, truly, is God speaking? In the political, intellectual powerhouses that we are accustomed to knowing or in the stories of marginalized groups that, by nature of the color of their skin, their gender or their sexual orientation have not made the headlines or the text books?
bstarks
Dec 13 2002
05:32 am
Though I’m not as familiar with the language issues here, I have done a lot of thinking about the more general concepts of multicultural education, and I think that it behooves Christians to support multicultural education.
The concept of “one national culture” is stifling to authentically Christian expressions of faith in the public square. Our attempts to develop a “national culture” in the US have led, most unfortunately, to the adoption of civil religion. Personally, I get frustrated by the Religious Right’s efforts to meld Christian faith into US political culture. As a Christ-follower, I think it’s better to bring a Christian voice (authentically) into the public square (here education) and let it speak to the multiplicity of perspectives that are being shared in the setting. If we truly live in a pluralistic setting, then we must be open to this exchange.
I think that the perspectives of marginalized groups also have much to offer the Christian life. There is much that marginality has in common with a Christ-following perspective. It does us good to walk in others’ shoes to see how they might experience God’s world. Their read on Scripture, their read on political events, their read on arts and entertainment tells us what voices the culture is listening to and helps us step out of our saturated selves into something like a fresh perspective.
So, I guess while I support education that gives students a sense of the history of the West, I would ask…what part of the West is important? And, from a Christian perspective…what voices ought we be listening to that might shape our life and practice? Where, truly, is God speaking? In the political, intellectual powerhouses that we are accustomed to knowing or in the stories of marginalized groups that, by nature of the color of their skin, their gender or their sexual orientation have not made the headlines or the text books?
Curious to engage on this topic…