Stephen Judd

Everyone is special

1 min read

"I would prefer to combat the ‘I’m special’ feeling not by the thought ‘I’m no more special than anyone else’ but by the feeling ‘Everyone is as special as me.’ In one way there is no difference, I grant, for both remove the speciality. But there is a difference in another way. The first might lead you to think, ‘I’m only one of the crowd like anyone else’. But the second leads to the truth that there isn’t any crowd. No one is like anyone else. All are ‘members’ (organs) in the Body of Christ [I Corinthians 12:27]. All different and all necessary to the whole and to one another: each loved by God individually, as if it were the only creature in existence. Otherwise you might get the idea that God is like the government which can only deal with the people as the mass."

- C.S. Lewis

Othering

1 min read

The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging - Othering and Belonging

“Othering” is a term that not only encompasses the many expressions of prejudice on the basis of group identities, but we argue that it provides a clarifying frame that reveals a set of common processes and conditions that propagate group-based inequality and marginality. Although particular expressions of othering, such as racism or ethnocentrism, are often well recognized and richly studied, this broader phenomenon is inadequately recognized as such.

While othering is natural, and likely evolutionary advantageous, it explains much about issues in the world, today and historically. It is always much easier to disrespect, revile, and marginalize those we see as others.

Think about your identity and who you think is "other" - how does that affect your perception and treatment of them?