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occamsnailfile
Nov 4, 2007



zamtrios so lonely
Grimey Drawer

Lutha Mahtin posted:

I disagree, sort of. I am not Muslim or Jewish; my dad is a Christian pastor in a "mainline" Protestant denomination in the US, so that's where I come from. But anyway, I think every person who is part of a group has some bit of influence about how that group is perceived. By itself, each average person's power in this area will not change the minds of everyone, but I think it is important to remember that no person is powerless.

Also I think it is also a commonality of the Abrahamic religions that other people's perception of one's life can be an important thing. If I'm remembering my studies correctly, it is taught to all Jews, Christians, and Muslims that your own personal conduct can be a powerful force. This is often taught in terms of sharing or spreading one's own belief, but I think it's equally applicable to changing how people outside of one's own group view that group :)

This is a huge frustration for minority participants in any society as the conduct of each individual is seen as far too reflective of the community as a whole. Being the only black person in a gathering can end up with them being asked to speak for all black people--that kind of thing, and it's a crushing and unfair burden to place on an individual. It's also hard to avoid sometimes since the only way to learn more about people different from oneself is to interact with them. The point when it becomes really toxic is when majority members pressure the minority to support their positions ("My black friend agrees that--") and then uses them as representative of their class. Despite being asked to speak for all of "their kind" the power of the individual to actually change perceptions of their group remains very limited, and they are more likely to simply be considered "one of the good ones." At least so long as they don't challenge majority comfort.

Obviously you can sub in "gay" "Jewish" "female" etc depending on the people involved and the dynamic remains similar.

This obviously leads to the dilemma of trying to engage with an at-times hostile majority, or remaining within one's community as much as possible, and thus having one's experience remain invisible.

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