Ignorance & Perception

If there is anything I have learned from my times of travel, it is this: the majority of what we see, how we see, and how we react is all based on our perceptions. Certainly mine differ to an extent from yours. But all of our perceptions are rooted in the same culture. Talk to a Frenchman, a Dominican, a Ghanaian, or even a Dutchman, and suddenly you realize that what was right and wrong for you is not the same for them. Examples? Personal responsibility and liability. Or the importance of the individual versus the group. Social norms. Words and phrases.

For example, saying no is usually very passive in American culture, whereas Dominicans and the Dutch are very much direct. Americans also value an individual's rights more so than the groups. We put up with signature after signature to enjoy mere paddle boating or ice skating. Elsewhere, you pay and merely hop in the boat. Anything that happens to you is your own responsibility. Why should others have to put up with waivers for your irresponsibility?

And our view of God is different, and almost always reflective of the culture one identifies with. Americans, valuing success and determination generally describe God as one of wealth who is always pushing forward, working with His creation to make a successful world. The Dutch see a more passive, loving God reflective of the way their tiny culture, surrounded by massive countries, has had to adapt and accept others in order to survive (if no one were to like the Dutch, trade would never occur, and the Dutch rely on trade, hence their famous tolerance towards many things). Neither is wrong. But neither is right.

Our cultural ignorances we display (War in Iraq, banning burkas, terrorist plots, giving Obama a piece of a slave ship, giving the Queen DVDs that don't work) are perfect metaphors for the truth that we don't understand God. We find it crazy to use only your right hand to accept items from someone (as in Ghana) or to allow legal prostitution and drug use, only because we don't understand the cultures these norms come from. That isn't to say some are right or wrong, but I am not arguing that. Most ignorances come from a lack of understanding. So, our ignorances of God come from us not understanding Him. The Dutch's view of God is flawed. But so is the American and Dominican. So which is right? All of them. Just as we value community in American churches through worship, bible studies, etc. we need to extend that community to the international world. Talking to Dutch, Germans, Ghanaians, Dominicans, Nicaraguans, Aussies, British, Russians, and Lithuanians has shaped my view of God by teaching me about new sides of who He is. I will never fully understand Him (or Her to please the advocates of gender neutrality), but my idea of who He is is broader because of my time with people from different mindsets.