If our chief problem in the international arena is the challenge of difference, this may be a step in the right direction. Lots of people think the world is just as their language or way of thinking portrays it; and in a world of different worldviews and different moral outlooks we often just pass each other by. But, as the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor says, when we become aware that there are different ways of looking at the world and when we start to think that the other people are crazy it’s probably because we’re not seeing something. So, it may be better to learn their language, their way of thinking, their picture of what it means to live a fully human life and WHY that moves them. There are a tremendous number of deep insights into human life and a lot of them are distributed in very different views, including the views of atheists. We need to enter a new era, where we all will have a real desire to learn about other positions in this sense: to find out about another position is to learn WHY people love it, to get insight into WHY people are moved by that position. Each one of us would be enriched by grasping that and we’d have a better understanding of the scope of human life and human spirituality. There’s a kind of friendship that can grow up between people who are learning this kind of thing from each other and deeply, therefore, respect each other. There’s a kind of connection that occurs in such efforts at understanding. Of course, the opposite end of the spectrum is there, too. But all the dismissive “You’re all wrong” stuff can disappear in these kinds of exchanges. Unless one is really attached to it, that kind of dismissive hostility and hatred can melt when sitting down calmly and just listening to someone who is different. What we want to find out is WHY people with any given position love it, WHY they hold it. What excites them about it? It’s not about propaganda or preaching. It is a different kind of activity, a different kind of relation where we sit down and we say, “Let’s really try to understand.”
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 23:10:53 +0000
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