Tag Archives: Stories

Is Australia guilty of telling a single story about refugees?

Politics, , ,

If you haven’t already seen it, this TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is well worth 19 minutes of your time. She talks about the dangerous power of a single story. The way we too often assume that people who are different from us can be defined and summarised by one story, whereas our own culture is allowed the complexity and contradictions of multiple perspectives. The effect of doing this is to emphasize the thing we see as different and to minimise our shared humanity.

Her message is powerful and resonates for a number of reasons. I was challenged and intrigued by the way she talks about stories, and how we can make a story an entirely different story by starting it with “secondly.” In other words, the point at which we choose to begin telling someone’s story will completely shape how we hear and understand it.

The comment that really resonated with me today, however, is this one:

“Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.”

Why did this hit me so strongly? I think it is because I am afraid that this is what I see happening around me.

Australians have started to tell the story of people who come to our shores seeking refuge in a particular way. We define their whole story by that one action. We are starting their story with a “secondly.” Our government has even pronounced on what language is and isn’t acceptable to describe these people. We are being shown them as one thing, and only one thing, over and over again.

When we define people as only one thing, and a thing that we think we are not, it becomes very easy to see them as “other,” and to dismiss the rest of their stories. We end up dehumanising them. I have observed it in the way different tribal groups relate to one another in parts of Africa. I see it in the way the early Jewish church struggled to accept Gentiles in the New Testament. I’m even noticing it in the way young men speak about women online. And I hear it every day in the rhetoric and debate that surrounds the “issue” of asylum seekers in Australia today.

At the political level, it can feel like this battle has already been lost. Many seem quite comfortable accepting the single story we have been told.

At the personal level, I’m grateful for those who continue to listen to the myriad of different stories from those who make up the Australian community in all its diversity. If you’re looking for a good place to start, check out www.welcometoaustralia.org.au and maybe take the time to listen to just one of the many stories there.

I would hate to think that my life could be defined by a single story someone else told about ‘people like me.’ I hope I can show that same grace to others, no matter where they come from or how they arrive on my doorstep.

I’m A Little Bit Jealous Of Wil Anderson’s New Job

Blogging, ,

I’ve been something of a fan of comedian Wil Anderson for quite a few years now. I think the Glasshouse and Gruen shows have been some of Australian TV’s high points for me over the past decade. I went to see his “Wil of God” show in Adelaide a few years ago and ended up using his conclusion in my sermon the next morning. While he and I obviously have some quite different perspectives on life, not to mention fairly different ways of talking about them, I find that the questions he is asking about life are actually quite similar to my own – and sometimes his are much better and force me to ground my own thoughts in the realities of the wider culture in which I live. Plus he is just really good at making me laugh!

So last week I listened to his new podcast, “Wilosophy.” And to be honest I was a tiny bit jealous. Because what he is doing seems like one of the best jobs I can imagine: sitting down in a room with a person you find really interesting and talking about their story and their perspective on life, asking good questions and together reflecting on what it might all mean. I would love someone to pay me to do that!

Okay, to be fair, when I was working as a school chaplain and then as a pastor, there is a sense that I was being paid to do just that. I loved chatting with the girls at school and when they asked, “Am I keeping you from doing your job?” being able to say, “This IS my job!” There’s something truly wonderful about taking the time to listen to someone’s story, asking questions that help them reflect and put some of the pieces together, and seeking to learn how it might fit into the bigger picture of life that each of you sees.

So last week Wil was interviewing Redesign My Brain’s Todd Sampson and they spoke about some of the people they called “nodes”: people who your life comes into contact with and you are changed, inspired, provoked, sent in a new direction. Although I wouldn’t use the same terminology, I absolutely believe that God has used people in my life in that way. Some have been friends and mentors. Others have been strangers and even people I strongly disagree with. I love that I can be inspired, challenged, and shaped by all different kinds of people. I look at who I follow on Twitter and it seems like a completely random assortment of theologians, friends, politicians, comedians, writers, acquaintances, thinkers, and bloggers. But hopefully it means I’m listening to some small pieces of their stories and being challenged, inspired, confronted, interested, affirmed and amused by how what they say intersects with my story.

The most important person who has changed my life, however, is Jesus. It’s hard to say that without it sounding clichéd or even corny. But it’s true. My life would not look anything like it does today if I hadn’t met Jesus and I hope my life in the future will look quite different from how it looks today because of the things He still has to show and teach me.

So Wil Anderson if you’re reading this (yeah right :)), maybe you are a little bit of a “node” for me. I don’t see things the same way as you do all the time, but I appreciate the way you challenge my thinking. And if you want to shoot the breeze on life stories and philosophy with a relatively normal, thinking out-loud Aussie who happens to have found hope in Jesus, give me a call!