Sunday, 15 February 2015

Exclusion and Embrace: Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation,
Miroslav Volf, Abingdon Press, 1996, page 19

In the last post, we looked at Volf's first assertion. Here is the second:

The politics of difference rests on two basic persuasions. ... Second, since the identity is partly shaped by recognition we receive from the social setting in which we live

And then quotes Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor:

nonrecognition or misrecognition can inflict harm, can be a form of oppression, imprisoning smeone in a false, distorted and reduced mode of being.

We are a part of our society, which can have tremendous influence over us, even to the formation and maintenance of our identity. It behooves society to get this right and not force their ideas of a person's identity upon that individual, but instead to help build and nurture their G-d-given identity.