August 26, 2007
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The Same Blindspot
We all have blindspots. If we do not inquire our points of view at all times, we will be narrow-minded and become evil to certain extent. A student said that he had never read Harry Potter. I asked him why. He said that the curses inside the books were quite real. The following are the excerpt of our conversation.
“How do you know that they are real?”
“My brethern say so.”
“Do you mean the people in your church? How do they know then?”
“I don’t know. Is this a fact?”
“How do you know that it is a fact?”
“According to the bible…”
“Wait. Are you sure that there are any places in the bible saying something about Harry Potter?”
“Not exactly. But we shouldn’t listen to heretics.”
“Who decides which stuffs are related to heretics?”
“The church.”
“I see that you start using the collective term ‘the church’. I daresay ‘the church’ is consisted of human. Your point of view is only human. Does it really the point of view of God? Has God told you to judge other people?”
“Not exactly.” My student turned silent.
“How do you feel about Muslims? Do you think that they are not reasonable?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“Most of them.”
“Why?” He turned silent again. I thought he was pondering my question.
“Let me suggest some answers. Do you think that most of them are not reasonable because you think that they do not listen to people other than Muslims?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you think that they do not listen to people other than Muslims?”
“Errr…”
“Do you think that they do not study what others say?”
“Yes.”
“If you have pre-assumption to Harry Potter, Muslims or yoga (Some Hong Kong Christians think that yoga is heretic!), do you think that you have the same blindspot as Muslims?”
My student turned completely silent. He looked at me. I knew he got the answer.
“No offense to Muslims! I have no time to tell you how great they are to the civilisation of the whole world right now. Without Muslims, the population of the whole world do not have the present science and development. You have time to explore this area of history later. But right now, do not think that being a christian can make you shut up all your sensory channels to listen to the others. If you have read Harry Potter and tell me you do not like the books with reasons, I am proud of you. But if you just tell me you will NOT explore anything because of some assumption or prejudice, I am afraid I cannot let you. You will make the same mistake you’ve found in other people.”
I did not know whether my student had an open-minded point of view of Harry Potter or not. By studying his facial expression, I knew that he understood the world was much bigger than his well. This is not a matter of religion but a matter of disposition. Only cowards do not embrace the difference and remain ignorant.
Comments (1)
For me, Christianity is about love, forgiveness and scarification .The church, especially Chinese church should be much more open- minded to the modern world.