en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1285845 Comments by Joe http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/the-diversity-we-seek-the-danger-of-manufactured-pre-determined-diversity/#IDComment87998331 David, et al This really resonated with me: "There is a danger of a manufactured pre-determined flattened diversity that is often shaped by the bland vision of American democracy. God wants to create something anew here through His life of forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal." Among the mostly mainline church communities I have worked with this has been a thorny issue, because their social imagination is mostly seized by the vanities of our national politics and the sanitized visions offered in corporate boardrooms. Difference and the crossing of social boundaries can mean so much more, as the questions your community is raising about HP and Waukegan make evident. Check out Ross Douthat at the NYT who did a really interesting look at the consequence of ignoring diversity within white and rural America. The fact that you have identified a multiple kinds of diversities in your midst, I believe, raises the stakes for Christian engagement across social boundaries rather than lowering them. We are left with few excuses not to cross our social margins, however they are configured. On the other hand, its worth noting, even if your congregation isn't being called to tackle this directly, that some forms of difference unnerve us societally more than others, and I believe those are ones Christ calls us to pay particular attention to. Yes in Christ we are new creatures, but I had brown eyes before I went into the baptismal waters and I still have them after. Jesus looked like many things post-res, but thanks to Thomas we know he was still a crucified man. And so, even as congregations on the cusp of the new creation, we are still party to old historical legacies which place particular burdens upon us as Americans and Westerners more generally. Differences of ethnicity and class will always be apart of the American imprimatur, but we don't have to be held captive to how some define those categories. We just need to take ownership of our legacy and identity even in small ways. Doing so would put Christian witness in this polarized, amnesia stricken society in sharper relief. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:33:03 +0000 http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/the-diversity-we-seek-the-danger-of-manufactured-pre-determined-diversity/#IDComment87998331