BBC 4 Kwame Anthony Appiah – Mistaken Identities on Creed
Keywords: Orthopraxy, Creed
I found this lecture very interesting to listen to. I am from a Buddhist- Hindu religion but what I take away from my religion[s] (or more of my tradition/ background) is to do good to others and to yourself.
Philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah explore religion and examine its role in identity in his Mistaken Identities lectures. Professor Appiah shares his own experience of being mistaken/ assumed based on his accent and appearance. Professor Appiah challenges the settled assumption on how identity works (affiliating with race, nationality, family, religion, etc), arguing that “identity is utterly personal”.
Professor Appiah explains that we’ve been taught to think of religion as a ‘matter of beliefs’, disregarding the ‘shared practices’ and the communities that support religious life. In our current world, religions are still used to sow conflicts, divide humans, raise fear, etc.
Appiah also discusses the terms Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy, describing Orthodoxy as ‘correct belief’ and Orthopraxy as an ‘action, not a believing right, but an acting right’ (correct practice). Appiah argues that scriptures require interpretation. It is up to the readers – how they see the texts, their interpretation – ‘which passages to read into and which to read past’. It is important to understand that there is no single voice, that there is not only one way of practising religion. Appiah states religion changes/ evolves. Through this resource, it is
This resource was very rich and fascinating. The Q&A section from the lecture was very enjoyable to listen to as well. In my teaching context, reflecting on these resources and my own positionality, I need to ensure and learn to know who my students are. It also made me reflect on the importance of awareness and respect.
Professor Appiah states the importance of being open to conversation and listening – ‘conversation across difference’. I agree with this belief as it allows you to learn to be accepting through hearing and being aware of one another (hooks, 1994).
References:
Appiah, 2016. Mistaken Identities, Creed
bell hooks (1994) Teaching to transgress
Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a ‘respect for difference’ (Modood, 2015). It emerged in the 1960s and initially was associated with the new social movements and identity politics of gender, race and sexuality in Western Europe. Multiculturalism welcomes and values the differences in society – it is not only about tolerance but as mentioned above, it is about valuing and respecting the differences in the public space equally. Rather than being “dominated by the majority”, multiculturalism intends to not just reverse marginalisation but also “remaking national citizenship so that all can have a sense of belonging to it” (Momood & Calhoun, 2015).
Changes in religious demography
This section highlights the changes in religious demography as a result of immigration – not just through settlements of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, but also because of the recent growth of Black-led, African beliefs. These changes in demography made London one of the most religious areas. My question is how can higher education institutions address/ explore these results to better understand and support students’ well-being or with their exploration/ research of faith-based projects and essays.
In this chapter, it is stated that “whilst the young and the highly educated are two groups that are less likely to be religious, nevertheless, the majority of university students say they are religious” (Weller, Hooley & Moore, 2011). I wonder, why is this when the statistics show a different story.
While reading the texts, I was wondering how embracing and introducing multiculturalism can encourage valuing and respecting differences in the public space (e.g. in a HE institution/ classroom). I believe this will enable open dialogues, to be critical thinkers and to be compassionate.
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