{"id":15913,"date":"2018-01-18T04:43:03","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T12:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15913"},"modified":"2018-01-18T04:45:41","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T12:45:41","slug":"drawing-outside-the-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/drawing-outside-the-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing Outside the Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went for a walk today and began to look at the community that I live in. This country and its people are made up of hundreds of different that are bound together in a unified way. Benedict Anderson in his book, Imagined Communities, <\/em>calls all nations imagined. “It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion…\u201d[1]<\/a> He goes on to say that we have imagined\"\"<\/a> the lines on the map and created nations from our desire to unite. The shared experiences uniting these communities are events that are long remembered and spoken about. \u201cChinese nationalism is in many ways specific, because it is based on what is perceived as past humiliation, it has shown since the beginning of the modern era, which is to say since the Opium War of 1840, a profound feeling of insecurity.\u201d[2]<\/a> This as well as subsequent conflicts with foreign countries has ostracized the already isolationist country rallying them against outsiders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anderson writes about empires declining \u201cdestroying the legitimacy of divinely ordained, hierarchical dynastic realm[s].[3]<\/a> This can also be seen in China as well with the final collapse in 1912. The rallying cry of revolutionaries called for equality and liberty from oppression. These slogans and speeches were subsequently printed and distributed so all could know and ag\"\"<\/a>ree. The communist party won following World War 2, recognized the need for unity and solidarity and simplified a very complicated language. This opened the door for language to be not only for scholars but also for the common people. Standardized language both spoken and written was instituted so the common farmer and the city dweller could speak and read the same material. [4]<\/a> When history is retold and rewritten within a newly formed nation, heroes emerge promoting patriotic living.\u201cPrinted words washed away the former almost at once, so that, if recalled at all, it appeared an inconsequential anomaly\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The \u201cQuestion is […]why nationalism has inspired so many people to lay down their lives in its wars and revolutions.\u201d[6]<\/a>Anderson says, \u201cI believe that the beginnings of an answer lie in the cultural roots of nationalism.”[7]<\/a> From the beginning of the current political climate of this country, speeches, books, slogans, and various propaganda pieces have flooded in to unite the country. These rallying cries brou\"\"<\/a>ght people together against a common foe: be it the rich and privileged, a foreign nation that embarrassed them in the past, a province that wants to secede, or the Japanese and the atrocities during WW2. Often times the frustrations of this country’s citizens are redirected against a common adversary. For a country that is founded on revolution there is a regular need to focus anger on others. Today social media, newspapers, automated text messages, and local leaders are used to encourage people against the ever changing scapegoat. Like or not, it works. The pressure is vented! People are relieved to have a country that stands up against those trying to infringe on them, and as they come together, community is built and individual issues are forgotten for the day. The imagined communities are happy for another day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whether it is a collective struggle or a sacred texts, Anderson says people are drawn together for harmony and cooperation. [8]<\/a> The east and west both have sacred texts that shaped the countries and communities. Though Confucianism is not an official religion, it does have sacred texts that have influenced the ancient and modern Chinese. Outsiders to any community will struggle to understand the cultural idiosyncrasies that exist. Churches have called themselves communities for generations. If Anderson is right and communities (even church) are simply imagined with self imposed lines separating them, then ethnicity only plays into defined communities when we want it to. Even within the Christian church, there are messages we promote; like unity in Christ and with one another. We can also be united by demonizing communities, church tribes, or people in an attempt to rally and strengthen our own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chinese word \u201cpropaganda\u201d has both a good and bad meaning. Patriotic songs, language, posters, advertisements if we are honest are all propaganda; good and bad. Communities that are carefully crafting a message to unite and stay focused, use propaganda. Eric Fromm said, \u201cWhat is so deceptive about the state of mind of the members of a society is the \u2018consensual validation\u2019 of their concepts. It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing is further from the truth. \u201d[9]<\/a> Consensual validation of concepts found in propaganda doesn’t prove its validity. \u201cPeople are supposed to be loyal to the group to which they belong, and, in exchange, the group will defend their interests.\u201d[10]<\/a> When the communities control media, printed material and internet, the message that is conveyed each day, day after day is one that promotes the community that forms it. Nationalism comes as a result of daily digesting the carefully crafted influences of your community, whether reading China Daily or the London Tribune.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leaders \u2013 be it of countries, businesses, or churches \u2013 are conveying messages that build up or tear down, guide or manipulate, shape or destroy the communities they are responsible for. The imagined communities that we participate in have self imposed barriers that divide as well as unite. Whether it is our physical neighbors, Christian family, or countries, we need to let Christ transcend the obstacles for us to create a true community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections of the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.<\/em> (New York :Verso, 2006) 6<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> http:\/\/journals.openedition.org\/chinaperspectives\/2793<\/a> accessed January 18. 2018<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections of the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.<\/em> (New York :Verso, 2006) 7<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 197<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 35<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Wilson, George M. “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.” American Historical Review<\/i> 90 (1985): 903.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections of the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.<\/em> (New York :Verso, 2006) 6<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid, 13-36<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Elliott, Anthony. Contemporary Social Theory – Second Edition An Introduction<\/em>. (Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014), 69<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> \u201cHofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Understanding Different Countries,\u201d accessed November 16, 2017. https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/pages\/article\/newLDR_66.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went for a walk today and began to look at the community that I live in. This country and its people are made up of hundreds of different that are bound together in a unified way. Benedict Anderson in his book, Imagined Communities, calls all nations imagined. “It is imagined because the members of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[583],"class_list":["post-15913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anderson","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15922,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15913\/revisions\/15922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}