Read: Luke 4: 14-30
With the arrival of I Phone, mobile phones became more than a phone. Now with
mobile phones like Samsung Note 2, one does not need even to carry a
laptop nor an I Pad and tablet, as these phones are known as Phablets- combination
of phone and tablet. What made mobile phone a multi tasking technological
wonder was the apps that was available for both the apple, the android and the
window phones. Apps are literally revolutionizing our life. From accessing our
bank accounts to booking flight tickets or even to have the route map for the
journey that we intend to travel, today there is an app for everything. With
the new and new apps coming every day, apps have been classified as games app,
utility apps, education, entertainment, book, finance, health and fitness to
name a few. But recently an app that came in the market has come in for a lot
of criticism. Google has come out with a so called fun app named "Make Me
Asian", where the makers of Google seems to think it is fun to make
oneself look like an Asian by changing the shape of one's eyes and sporting a
Fu Manchu mustache and a rice paddy hat. Thus with this app one can transform a
person to a Chinese, Japanese, Indian or Korean within few seconds.
Though Google thinks this is a fun app, the Asian American organizations are
not bemused. They have launched a petition to get Google to remove this app
since the app uses racist stereotypes of Asian. Along with these app of Make Me
Asian, Google has also come out with another so called fun app titled "
Make Me Indian", where one can make a native American with brown skin, war
paint and a feather headband. Thus the Asian American organization claims
that more than 18 million people have already signed the petition to remove
these apps since these apps tend to be racist and is an offensive portrayal of
Asians and Native Americans. Moreover this apps also seems to be perpetuating a
superiority complex of one ethnicity over another. But Google still feels that
the apps are not racist as these apps are not in violation of the policies of
the company, where hate speeches of any sort are condemned. Apps were designed
to make one life and living more easy and less arduous, but one can tend to
think that apps also now tend to be misused and is becoming a tool of
exploitation and suppression. All these forms of exploitation comes with the
mindset that my race, my ethnicity may be superior than my neighbour. How does
our faith and faith living help us to comprehend and also to challenge racist overtone
and beliefs that may tend to dominate our thinking and our belief system, that
may have even come in the form of apps in our phones?.
When we look at the Word of God one of the unique aspect of the life Jesus Christ
is that, the Son of God consciously limited himself not only to time and space
but also with regards to ethnicity and race. Jesus does his whole public
ministry as a Jew. In Luke 4: 14-30, we find how Jesus begins his pubic
ministry, his focus and the response of the people. In v: 14-18, we find that
Jesus taught in synagogues and one day when he went to the synagogue he stood
up to read the scroll, and it was the scroll of prophet Isaiah that was given
to him and Jesus reads " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because
he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor and to proclaim freedom for
prisoners and also sight for the blind and release the oppressed". After
reading this Jesus states that "today the scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing". But when Jesus makes this transformatory and revolutionary
statement how does the people respond. They respond by saying that "Isn't
that Joseph's son"?. Here is Jesus Christ bringing a new identity to the
people who did not have any identity those days, the poor, the prisoners, the
oppressed. An identify that is not seen through the eyes of race,
ethnicity nor the place where you were born. But look at the response of the
people. The people tend to belittle Jesus Christ by saying that isn't the son of
Joseph, the person who is a carpenter, and how can that person who is lesser
known Jew suddenly say that through him prophecy is fulfilled?. When Jesus was
trying to bring a new sense of identity and a new consciousness about ones
identity what the people were trying to do was to emphasize once again the
importance of one's identity as something to condemn another person or use the
issue of race to exploit another individual. What Jesus does through his birth
as Jew and as he preached the gospel of liberation was the emphasis of two
divine truths. The first truth that he emphasized was that it is our faith
identity which is more important than our race or ethnicity. When Abraham hears
the call of God he get a new name, a new identity, a faith identity[ Gen 12: 1-2].
When Paul states that "if any man is in Christ he is a new creation"
[2 Cor 5:17 ], what he stresses was the new faith identity in Christ. It is
this faith identity that we have in Christ that we should be stressing more
that our individual race or ethnicity. But does that mean our race and
ethnicity is not important. I believe No. This is the second truth that Jesus
teaches us. When Jesus grew up as Jew he affirmed his Jewish identity and
associated himself with all the Jewish cultural setting and ethnicity. What is
important along with the affirmation of our faith identity is also, being
comfortable and proud to proclaim who we are in terms of national, racial and
ethnic identity. I think we should be proud to say " I am an Indian"
or " I am an American". The problem happens when the identity of one
person is used to suppress another. We don't know what was the intention of
Google in creating apps whereby one could transform oneself to another race,
but let us not create in our life nor in our thinking that we belong to a
superior race or ethnicity rather that in Christ we are one and that our faith
identity is one and also in the process respecting and affirming that in our
faith identity there are diversities in race and ethnicity and these diversities
bring beauty and meaning to our faith living.