What constitutes a good society? If we are to make a creative difference in our world, do we have a clear picture of what we are working toward?
We live in a world where there is no shortfall of relative claims to objective truth. According to a dominant voice in the 20th century, echoes of which continue to be heard in the hegemony of dominant ideologies even today:
The so-called democratic freedom to live to the full according to one’s persuasions and instincts leads not to an evolutionary advancement nor to a freeing of exceptional forces or values. Instead, it leads to a squandering of the existing wealth of the creative potential of the individual and to his ultimate paralysis (Adolf Hitler’s Address to the Reichstag (30 January 1939).
As we think about our roles as co-collaborators (albeit in a very small and privileged way) in the larger context of the Creator, how we think about ourselves – humanity in general – will determine the nature of what we can actually accomplish in reality. For Hitler the creative potential of all people hinged upon his anthropological vision for all humanity, a social ideology that gave rise to some of the most profane (creative for some) innovations. But he is not alone. What is our ideological claim for human creative flourishing. Do we have one? If we are not clear on what it means to be ultimately and thereby truly human, then we open ourselves up to false or less-than-true claims to what it means to be human. In the light of the history of humanity and the embodied rhetoric of hate evidenced in school shootings in the global North, the attitude toward women in India, human trafficking, ethnic cleansing and the list goes on and on, we are desperately in need of a renewed anthropological vision that recognises and affirms the essential worth of all peoples everywhere.
Do we believe the inherent creative worth and essential dignity accorded to all creation and especially to every single human person irrespective of caste, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity? If yes, then on what grounds do we hold on to such a radical claim. If no, then on what basis do we justify some as better or less-than others?
The film Mrs. Schneider invites us to reorient our inner compass when it comes to grasping the anthropological vision that has the Creative Best for each person.
Watch. Think. Pray.
How should we think about ourselves, our families, our friends, people on the street? Can we envision a life together with those in our respective worlds?
