All faces deserve to be shown equal respect in the global village
By Lethbridge Herald on August 30, 2024.
Editor:
One tableau staged as a part of the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris provoked some controversies. It depicted the Greek God Dionysus’ dinner table. Some Christians mistakenly thought it was making fun of Christ’s Last Supper.
It shows cultures and traditions can be very easily misunderstood.
Obstinate fundamentalists of all varieties are offended by any deviation from their traditions and react irrationally. Some act violently.
We must agree that nobody is always absolutely right. All of us have to learn how to talk about differences respectfully avoiding any expression of contempt.
Where there is any difficulty understanding, talk about it as long as necessary.
Here are some stories about the challenges I faced in my life when I lived in different cultures, languages, and traditions:
– When “Canadian University Service Overseas” was created during the 1960’s, it became known as CUSO. Everybody pronounced it “kyuso.” But Japanese students at the UBC campus in Vancouver thought it was pronounced “kooso.”
It took them several days to realize that the new volunteer program was a legitimate and an excellent initiative. It took a long time because the acronym sounded like the word for “excrement” in Japanese.
– In Manitoba, there is a brand of milk marketed by “Manitoba Coop.” The brand name is labelled on the carton as “MANCO.” I had to ask my wife never to pronounce the name of the milk in my mother’s hearing when we were visiting Winnipeg. The name on the carton sounded like a vulgar Japanese word for female genitals.
– A young immigrant was hired as a house boy doing odd jobs around the house while he was learning English in Vancouver. One day the pet dog of the family was hit by a car and killed. He felt very sorry and wanted to convey his heartfelt sympathy. But he said it with the only word he knew to express deeply felt emotion.
So he was fired. The word was an expletive. He said to me, “Everybody says that all the time.” He lived in a cheap rooming house in Downtown Eastend.
– I was once Dean of Student Affairs of a university in Southern Africa. On the first day of my job, nobody came to see me even though they had appointments. I asked my administrative assistant if I missed a memo. She said that they saw me reading newspapers with my feet on the desk.
:Foot on the desk was a totally unacceptable behaviour in our custom.” I didn’t know that.
I was lucky that I had a brave and honest person who was not afraid to tell an ignorant new boss that his behaviour was unacceptable.
– A student had a fight in a village and stabbed a local boy. The villagechief gave him six public lashes. Another student verbally insulted a mature woman server in the cafeteria. The same magistrate ordered him three months incarceration. As Dean of Students I appealed so he could sit for the exam.
The chief said no. “A superficial wound will heal, but a scar on the soul will fester for a long time. No one is allowed to do that to an older person.”
– A missionary teacher in Japan withdrew the whole class from the Tea Ceremony. The Master of Ceremony told the class to bow toward the alcove where a scroll with a picture of flowers and shibboleth was hanging.
The missionary thought his class was asked to bow to a divine image in a Japanese religion. Bowing is a show of respect in Japan, not necessarily a worship of god.
– In 1982, I was invited to attend a conference at Laval University in Quebec City. The theme of the conference was Black/Liberation Theology which was popular among left leaning Christians in Latin America and among African Americans. It was after Pope John Paul II banned Liberation Theology in Catholic institutions because of its use of Marxist analysis and language. Laval University was created as a French Catholic institution so the invited resource persons were left leaning Catholic theologians from France and Franco-phone African students in addition to Quebecois academics. I was the only one who spoke about English speaking theologians like James Cone of the Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Professor Cone became famous for his Black Theology during the Civil Rights Movement. During the Q & A, I was very surprised to hear the negative comment made by a Congolese student. He lashed out that Europeans were again pontificating from the European Judeo/Christian sense of superiority. He argued “Karl Marx was an European Ashkenazi . In Africa we have African Communalism like Ubuntu that is uniquely African spirituality.”
We live in a global village. Different cultures, customs, languages, and traditions are living side by side on a small planet. Therefore, the difference is normal. It is like our faces look all different. They all deserve respect. No one deserves to be insulted, mocked, or condemned.
We need to listen and talk until we understand. It may take a long time, but it is better than blood-shed and hatred.
Tadashi (Tad) Mitsui
Lethbridge
26-25
Whole heartedly agree! Thank you, again, Tadashi (Tad) Mitsui for your wise words!
I do to. Tad understands what a lot of us do.
We can all learn from any of Tad’s posts. He is probably one of the best educated, intelligent, rational and knowledgeable contributors in writing his letters to the editor. I only wish that more people would take the time to understand the depth of his writings and act accordingly.
thank you yet again, tad. you share perspective borne of vast experience and heartfelt compassion. that is love, and wisdom.
Intetesting to hear/read your personal account of various idiosincrasia events. However your lame attempt to diffuse the characterization of the depiction of the instance at the Paris 2024 Olympic “opening ceremony” is not congruent with respected observations which clearly remark that this was a mockery of Leonardo da Vinchi’s rendition (painting) of the Christian celebrant of Jesus Christ and “The Last Supper”.
Futhermore, what relevance, regardless of intent, did such a depiction serve at a Olympic venue? Would you agree with the majority that this was a “mis-fit” at best?