Notes on Identity and Diversity

 

“I can choose or control what my identity is.” 

 

To what extent do you agree with this statement?  

 

I agree to an extent that I can choose or control what my identity is. There are certain aspects of my identity which I cannot choose or control. For example, I cannot choose or control where I am from or my class background growing up.  

 

What I can do is that now I am grown up I can choose to change or control my geographical location and seek to improve my economic status. 

 

Also, I have chosen and controlled the fundamental aspect of my identity, which is my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. My identity isn’t bound up in my ever-changing circumstances or how I happen to be feeling at any one time. 

 

Instead, I am who God says I am. He ultimately defines my identity, not myself. Because I, alongside everyone else, am made in His likeness, I have inherent dignity, worth and value. Furthermore, He has given me certain talents which I am to use to the best of my ability for the glory of God, which is the meaning of my life, to glorify Him. 

 

So, in conclusion, although I mostly agree with the fact that I can choose or control what my identity is, there are certain characteristics I was born with, which define where I have come from, if not where I am going. 

“We're all just ever-changing bundles of impressions that our minds are fooled into thinking of as constant, because they're packaged in these fleshy receptacles that basically look the same from one day to the next.” - To what extent do you agree? Explain your answer fully. 

 

I agree with the statement to an extent, because we as humans are fickle. As an ancient Jewish prophet said, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can understand it?’  

 

As far as I can tell, the answer to the question is ‘no-one’! We still haven’t fathomed the depths of humanity, and come to understand ourselves very well at all, although I would suggest that a Biblical perspective does help us start to make sense of ourselves. 

 

Although the Bible describes us as ‘deceitful’ and hard to comprehend, it also explains how we got that way, and how we can overcome such a bleak outlook. If we look at things from our perspectives, things will seem ever-changing and difficult to decipher. If, however we allow the Bible to give us a ‘God’s eye view’ of things, we start to make sense of ourselves, our lives, and even get a sense of what our eternal destinies may be. 

 

The Bible teaches that we’re not just bodies, we’re also souls and spirits. We’re animated clay if you like: our bodies might be humble, but the fact that we’re spiritual beings gives us inherent dignity and worth. 

 

Because we’re ‘ever-changing’ and foolish, easily ‘fooled’ into thinking we know best, we need saving from ourselves, which God does for us in Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf. Because of that, we can have an eternally secure destiny where our identities will be safe in Father God’s hands. 

 

So, although I agree with the statement in some senses, I go further and say that we can be delivered from such a state. 

In what ways could identity be problematic? 

Reading up on identity, and the main way I can see identity as being problematic is that it may become very tribal. If my identity as a man for example means that I fail to seek to understand women, there could be a problem there. If my identity as a Christian means I don’t seek to understand my Hindu neighbour, that could be problematic. If I as a middle-class person look down on someone who is working class, that would be unhelpful. 

Identity in and of itself isn’t necessarily a problem. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with my identity. But if my identity causes me to disrespect people with different identities, it becomes an issue. We don’t even need to agree with one another necessarily, but we do need to love one another as fellow human beings. 

Whilst different identities could potentially be divisive, our shared identity as humans is our common ground. This raises the million dollar question: what does it mean to be human? If we are simply evolved primates, then if my identity believes yours to be 'devolved'/less evolved than mine, then that would seem to give me the right to trample on you- 'might is right'/survival of the fittest kind of ideas.

If on the other hand I believe we're all made in the image and likeness of God, then that gives us all inherent dignity and worth. That means I should obey God and love others as I love myself. That means that whatever our many and varied identities, we can all love and respect one another as equal and valuable.

Why should we celebrate diversity?

What I have written so far may have emphasised unity over diversity, but I do believe we should celebrate diversity to a large extent. Doesn't that seem to contradict what I have already written? If we were made in the likeness of a monochrome god who has no variety or diversity within himself, that might be the case. But I believe we were made in the likeness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, male and female He created us. Therefore, just as God is diverse Himself, so are we.