Loving my Neighbor: Respecting the Diversity of Viewpoints
IN CONCLUSION
This course, Education for Social and Cultural Change, strengthened my conviction that reality is comprised of a wonderful diversity that amazingly provides a coherence to human experiences. The discussions especially affirmed my understanding that humans everywhere intuitively recognize that each person has inherent value and deserves dignity. Though humans are diverse in ability and experience, each has something to contribute. Humans perceive norms in the diversity of reality that enrich each and everyone’s life. In order to communicate these norms, however, we must understand them to some degree. We therefore require worldview which explains the diversity between people and their relationship to the the world, but at the same time explains how the rich diversity holds together. How is it that two people can have shared experiences? What explains the coherence of the diversity? Reductionist theories, which seek to prioritize one aspect found in the diversity, ultimately fail to do justice to all the aspects of reality. (Clouser, 186) Several aspects were addressed in the reading, namely economical (production and consumption), justitial (authority and democracy), ethical/moral (love), social(culture) and fiduciary (religion and faith). A good indicator of reductionism is the tendency to not give one’s neighbor, and his or her experiences, the respect they are due.
“Neighbor” is a complex relationships between two persons, which includes, but also transcends, the State. The relationship includes all aspects of reality, including social, economic, moral and spiritual. Therefore, if education is to promote human flourishing the curriculum must include what is normative in each aspect. At what point in the relationship between two individuals is human flourishing threatened? What does a normative relationship look like when considered from the economic aspect? The biological aspect? The fiduciary aspect? What does it mean to be a neighbor and when does one fail to be a neighbor?
One aspect is that of justice, of which the State helps mediate. Since I do not foresee a singular, global State, nor do I think that would be best for human flourishing, I think citizenship education would involve a commitment to advance the cause of human flourishing within a particular state, using the means of the people within that body, while recognizing that other states may also advance the cause of human flourishing in a diverse way using different means. Therefore, Citizen education is to participate in and commit to a lifelong process of formation, articulation and reformation of a worldview, with full knowledge that a diversity of views will exist and that dialog will result in points of connection and points of disagreement.
Loving my Neighbor: Respecting the Diversity of Viewpoints
Citizenship Education
IN CONCLUSION
This course, Education for Social and Cultural Change, strengthened my conviction that reality is comprised of a wonderful diversity that amazingly provides a coherence to human experiences. The discussions especially affirmed my understanding that humans everywhere intuitively recognize that each person has inherent value and deserves dignity. Though humans are diverse in ability and experience, each has something to contribute. Humans perceive norms in the diversity of reality that enrich each and everyone’s life. In order to communicate these norms, however, we must understand them to some degree. We therefore require worldview which explains the diversity between people and their relationship to the the world, but at the same time explains how the rich diversity holds together. How is it that two people can have shared experiences? What explains the coherence of the diversity? Reductionist theories, which seek to prioritize one aspect found in the diversity, ultimately fail to do justice to all the aspects of reality. (Clouser, 186) Several aspects were addressed in the reading, namely economical (production and consumption), justitial (authority and democracy), ethical/moral (love), social(culture) and fiduciary (religion and faith). A good indicator of reductionism is the tendency to not give one’s neighbor, and his or her experiences, the respect they are due.
“Neighbor” is a complex relationships between two persons, which includes, but also transcends, the State. The relationship includes all aspects of reality, including social, economic, moral and spiritual. Therefore, if education is to promote human flourishing the curriculum must include what is normative in each aspect. At what point in the relationship between two individuals is human flourishing threatened? What does a normative relationship look like when considered from the economic aspect? The biological aspect? The fiduciary aspect? What does it mean to be a neighbor and when does one fail to be a neighbor?
One aspect is that of justice, of which the State helps mediate. Since I do not foresee a singular, global State, nor do I think that would be best for human flourishing, I think citizenship education would involve a commitment to advance the cause of human flourishing within a particular state, using the means of the people within that body, while recognizing that other states may also advance the cause of human flourishing in a diverse way using different means. Therefore, Citizen education is to participate in and commit to a lifelong process of formation, articulation and reformation of a worldview, with full knowledge that a diversity of views will exist and that dialog will result in points of connection and points of disagreement.