This is the second part in a great set of postings from “Musings of an Emergent Postmodern Negro”. Click here to read Part 1. Jamie.
Resisting the “Normative Gaze” – Part 2
by
postmodernegro
Alright. Some great comments from my last post on this topic. Which has led to some interesting discussion in other places. The lead off question:
Will the emerging church be able to resist the historic “normative gaze” of a particular Christian culture that assumes the normativity of European culture and theology?
Notice. I haven’t said that the emerging church has not resisted normative gaze. For me, that remains to be seen. We’ll see. But where were we?
I take my cue from the apostle Paul again:
3The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way–never have and never will. 4The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. 5We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. 6Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. – 2 Corinthians 10 (Message)
Paul teaches us that there are philosophies, warped philosophies, and barriers erected against the truth of God. I would venture to say that there are practices along with these barriers that do indeed stand in the way of Truth. One of the practices that we are engaged in here is the practice of the normative gaze. Although referred to as an ideal by Cornel West I consider it a practice as well. For gazing requires movement and intentionality. To quote Cornel West again:
“This ideal was drawn primarily from classical aesthetic values of beauty, proportion, and human form and classical cultural standards of moderation, self-control, and harmony. The role of the classical aesthetic and cultural norms in the emergence of the idea of white supremacy as an object of modern discourse cannot be underestimated.” (West,Prophesy Deliverance, p.54)
Basically the classical aesthetic becomes the “norm” for beauty and truth. For a richer genealogy of modern racism check out West’s Reader. I am sure there are other places where this can be found. But what comes out of this is this: the tyranny of a perceived universal over a particular. Thus particularity becomes a scandal. One attempting to speak authentically from their particularity becomes a scandal. This could be do to perceived power. But as a Christian I can only see this as some kind of idolatry. In effect raising one’s ethnicity above others and holding it as the norm for others to follow suit I believe to be a form of idolatry. Jesus once told us that it was a sin to love one’s own family more than Him. Which is startling thing for Jesus to say in our culture charged with jingoism and nationalistic pride.
I wanted to write more but this is where my main thoughts have left me thus far. I have been thinking about some things Stanley Hauerwas has said on the attachments of the old age or aeon and how that is connected to violence and idolatry. For it seems that race-ism is deeply connected to an over-love for family and ethnic heritage than it is of pure hatred of another family or race. We’ll see as this journey unfolds.
I think the most insideous effect of this reality is that most people who do it are largely unaware. Even among those who consider themselves "progressive" in this regard still do not see the depth into which it is intergrated into our worldview.
In regards to the emergent journey, I struggle with how this affects the way in which we move forward more inclusively. If emergent has predominately reflected a white male (American) voice/perspective, the talk about "inclusion" can even reflect the gaze in its assumption that what exists already is the foundation/form within which diversity can graft.
I am not saying I believe this is true of emergent, but I know this dynamic does exist within the church and in some circle of this dialogue. I would love to hear your insight into this.
For those interested, I have been continuing dialogue with Anthony on the thread of this post at his own site. Peace, Jamie
Its an important discussion. While it might be impossible to draw any conclusions about the emergent conversation in this regard, it is at least possible to make some observations..
* the voices of women are still too few
* the voices of visible minorities are too few
Why is that? Probably it is rooted in issues on both sides.. the dominant scripting of our "gaze," in the Enlightenment, and the internalized scripting of that gaze in all of us in the west. It is still an identity issue all around, and one we will only overcome with intentionality, love and Spirit.
In any case it is an important discussion glad to see it here.
I thought this was a very interesting post thanks for writing it!