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July 2008
Vol. 22, No. 3
Celebrating Cultural Diversity
by Greg Foley
God has seven children.
The seven continents (see note 1 below) of the earth are His children. His children are diverse, distinct and disparate. God undoubtedly loves variety-no bland flavours, no one- size-fits-all for the Creator-God. His children and their cultures are as varied as the colours of the rainbow. And it is the distinctiveness of His children that add spice and zest to the global ethos. I believe that God revels in the cultural diversity of the planet.
His children, however, are not as broadminded as their Creator-Father. His children tend to place one culture, one race, one religion above another. This cultural blindness has led God's children into the worst kinds of philosophies, beliefs and behaviours. History is replete with the heartless travesties of cultural sightlessness. This grieves the heart of God.
People are attracted to Jesus, regardless of culture, because of His loving openness and acceptance (2). Individuals often shun churches and religion because they find them to be closed, exclusive, judgmental and culturally biased. They find Jesus to be uniquely different. Like Jesus, His followers should embrace cultural diversity.
Celebrating Diversity
The world's largest celebration of cultural diversity will take place in August in Beijing. Athletes from every nation on earth will gather for the Olympics (3). The one time in human history when individuals from every creed, tongue and nation assemble in one place is the Olympic Games. The Olympic Charter forbids any discrimination based on a person's race, religion, gender, politics, or country of origin. Nations who have been bitter enemies, nations who have gone to war, now compete for Olympic medals (4). It is truly a cultural miracle and reason to celebrate.
Preserving Diversity
Thursday June 12 marked a Canadian milestone. Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a historic apology to Canada's First Nations Peoples for the century-long residential school system. Making parliamentary history, representatives of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples welcomed the apology which Mr. Harper offered in five languages-Ojibway, Cree, Inuktutuk, French and English. Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, told the House of Commons the apology marked "a new dawn" in race relations (5).
Greg Foley, editor
The Prime Minister stated that the schools aimed to isolate and remove children from the influence of their homes and assimilate them. He went on to say the policy was "wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country." This extraordinary act is a starting place for the healing of the 87,000 living survivors of the residential schools. Willie Blackwater, who suffered abuse for three years in a residential school, immediately accepted the Prime Minister's apology and stated, "If I am able to forgive my perpetrator, I can forgive Canada"(6).
Connecting to Culture
What does this mean to us individually? Relationships are living and fragile. Relationships can be starved, abused, neglected and die or they can be cherished, tenderly cared for and thrive. To the Christ-follower, people are always the most important consideration, regardless of cultural, economic, social, sexual or religious status. When you realize that every race, tribe, tongue and culture can trace its genetic origins to one single mother (7), it means that we are literally brothers and sisters to everyone on the planet. Jesus is calling us to connect to diverse cultures, whether in our own city or on another continent. Several articles in this issue illustrate how this can be done.
Greg Foley is the editor of 50 Plus Contact.
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