Here’s a quote that I would like to be seen in a HackingChristianity view, not in the political view it represents. This is a challenge, but the point being made is beyond partisanship, even though it is pointed at a particular party.
Ready? This is Oliver Willis commenting on the lack of racial diversity at the Republican National Convention.
If your message is targeted to one monoculture, and your noise machine largely run by that monoculture, you have no way of knowing how out of touch you are. Most Republican pols and conservatives simply have no true gauge for when they’re speaking in an exclusionary manner…The Republicans, even more than in the past, have decided to get their monochromatic base motivated to the exclusion of everyone else.
This speaks directly of the echo-chamber that we talk about here. When our news media is customized to reflect our monoculture, when our neighborhoods are chosen to reflect our monoculture, and when our gatherings speak only to those who share our culture, then how will we know that the world is changing? And more dangerously, if by hearing the same culture reflected back at us, we may become more radical and thus more hostile to the world around us.
For us to be relevant in an ever-changing world, it’s time to move out of our comfort zones and into areas where we don’t agree with everyone. Because if not, we may end up looking like a homogenous Christian society that has burned every bridge around us and just wants to be left alone.
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