Over the years our ministry has provided many opportunities to speak on behalf of those who have no "voice." Photography in particular can do so much to build bridges of connection. How could you look at these two girls from Tunisia and think, "Those people are all terrorists"? (Photo by Walt M.)
People do respond to children, don't they? Shane wrote about that in the article that went out in today's Missions Catalyst.
It may take a thousand words or more to have the same effect as this photo, but writers can change how people see the world too. Here's some more Mary Pipher:
Language is weaponized when it is used to objectify, depersonalize, dehumanize, to create an “other.” Once a person is labeled as “not like us,” the rules for civilized behavior no longer apply. The phrase “illegal alien” is an obvious example. Both the word “illegal” and the word “alien” separate us from the person being described. Indeed, America treats illegal aliens quite badly. The truth is that no person is illegal and no person is an alien.
A writer’s job is to tell stories that connect readers to all the people of the earth, to show these people as the complicated human beings they really are, with histories, families, emotions, and legitimate needs. We can replace one-dimensional stereotypes with multi-dimensional individuals with whom our readers can identify, creating a world of I–thou relationships.
Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World
2 comments:
Marti,
Great post. Really.
One of the things Buber says in his seminal and difficult work, I and Thou, is that we cannot live exclusively in an I/thou relationship with the world. I/it is legitimate- subjects, verbs and objects, are all part of creation's syntax. Its been a while since I've read Buber, and I must admit, I only understood about 1/3 of the book... but I remember gaining some comfort form that knowledge.
Keep it up.
grace & peace to you,
dm
Well, I've never read Buber myself - leave that for you professionals! Good point tho' - there's a difference between the relation of, say, a rock and a person, and between two people. Pipher is certainly an environmentalist but not an animist; I don't think she'd say all relationships should be I-thou. But we tend too much in the other direction, slapping labels on other people to make each one an 'it.'
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