I'm ashamed to admit it, but I used to think there was no need to say sorry to the Aboriginal people. We invaded their land and stole their children, but the worst of it was over before I was even born. What did I have to apologise for?
I also used to find it incredibly unfair when my primary school teacher gave my class a detention without excusing those of us who were (very indignantly) innocent.
Part of me still struggles with the notion of taking responsibility for something I wasn't directly involved in - though I'm happy to take credit for my upbringing and education, which fell neatly into my lap.
I wonder the extent to which my attitudes are a product of my culture's obsession with the rights/needs/desires of the individual, and our dwindling sense of community. It leaves little room for the notion of corporate guilt.
Even harder to accept is the Bible's teaching that the first ever human's rebellion against God tainted the entire human race.
Tim Keller, a New York preacher, engages with these issues in his talk "Real Friendship and the Pleading Priest". The talk is about Abraham's first intercessory prayer, which implies a corporate responsibility where sin - but also righteousness - can be ascribed to people.
Before explaining how and why Moses' actions point to the ultimate intercessor, Keller thinks through some of the cultural issues that could be barriers for his New Yorker audience.
Agreed, the notion of corporate guilt is hard for me to wrap my head around as well. Certainly not an idea we tend to like in an individualistic society. It's one of those things that I have stop and re-think every time it comes up.
ReplyDeleteHey Amy, thanks for reading - still! If you get the chance, I highly recommend Tim Keller talk, it really helped me to consider a different perspective.
ReplyDeletethere is a novel called the reader by bernhard schlink that deals with this issue in a pretty acute way. check it out.
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