Identity Crisis

Today in class we watched a documentary on the similarities and differences between the Jewish Holocaust and the American Indian Genocide. Dr. Hobby introduced the film with a warning of White Guilt which didn't set my hopes high for feeling too good after watching the film. And like I predicted, the film evoked a pained state of mind in me... I hated what my "race" had done to the Indians and I hated how America has masked our true history and ignored the massacre that we created so carelessly. The more I thought about the current state of America the more I felt hopeless that I could do anything to rectify the past's injustices with a remedy, a cure.


Dr. Hobby explained that he didn't want us to feel a sense of White Guilt because it was dangerous to how we studied and examined their culture and ours, but I have to slightly disagree. This White Guilt, or whatever you want to call it, isn't just myself moping around because of the past. Yes, I do feel slightly lost in where to go from here, but I'm more enthralled by the sheer injustice of it all. It brings to mind not just the injustice of the American Indians, but also the injustice in the public school system, in the cycle of poverty and homelessness, in the public school system, in the food crisis, in human trafficking.... it brings it all to mind how much this world is divided and organized and tiered and how it judges and how the people in power allow those without to fall victim to a cycle of distress, but then turn around and judge them for it. It may seem ridiculous to be this upset at many things that I can't control, but the whole idea of injustice just pisses me off. Remaining in this guilty state is what I think Hobby was warning from. I can agree that it would do no good to just stay mopey. However, taking this White Guilt and using it as a platform for change is something different entirely. This White Guilt isn't just a stopping point for me, but I see it as a jumping off point that I can use to begin reconciling a broken world. How I'm going to do that is another question altogether that I haven't even figured out, but at least I'm at a point that I can recognize that there still needs to be work done.


Getting back on track... During the entire movie the American Indians continually discussed the importance they place in their identity as an Indian. That, or sometimes they would discuss how they didn't like their identity as an Indian. The most remarkable quote that I heard was a man who said, "I once tried to White, but they wouldn't let me." After I heard this I started thinking about why people so badly need an identity to define them. Whether it's their race, their culture, their hobbies or interests, hair color, clothing... etc... people use their identity as a way to fit in or stand out amongst a crowd. Regardless that people may not immediately agree, everyone, and I mean everyone, is continually seeking to uncover their identity.


This got me thinking about God, as most things do, and I came to a conclusion about identity today in class. As I've started research for my senior thesis on the relationships within Genesis, I've discovered that three relationships were essentially broken during the "fall" of humanity. Man's relationship with nature, Man's relationship with Man, and finally (and most pertinent to this blog's discussion) is Man's relationship with God. Before the fall, Man was in perfect unity with God. Man found its full and complete identity within their relationship with God. All understanding and relationship between humanity was in a state of Shalom. However, when Adam and Eve chose their own path they broke their connection to God who provided them with their identity. Ever since then, people have been looking their identity in other things. It wasn't until God sent himself as Jesus to bring us back to direct relationship with God............


But this understanding of a lost identity helps me understand the reasoning behind all the competition in the world between races, classes, cultures...etc. People are constantly trying to prove their worth... their status... their whatever... because they lost sight of where to find the true fulfilling identity in God. I know that the solution to all of this identity crisis is Jesus, but sometimes I wonder what that would look like played out if everyone came to the same conclusion. This branches over into a whole other hot topic of how missionaries are to bring the Gospel into other cultures without bringing Western Christianity, but it do think that it's still relevant. I'm stuck at this point...... If everyone could see themselves within the context of their true identity, Children of God, at what point do people begin to lose aspects of their cultures? I know and firmly believe that different cultures provide many beautiful ways to see and explore the world, but will that be lost if everyone chooses to align themselves as one People? one Humanity? One body of Christ? I guess priorities would change and what really matters in the world would dominate instead.....