Faithful Philly Forum

Labels have always been (and still remain) a problem. For many, certain labels denote negative stereotypes, especially with regard to racism. One thing that has been stressed in my seminary class on “Gospel and Culture” is the fact that we must be extremely careful how we read things because of the problem of labels. My professor for this class happens to be from India. One example he shared with us is how a term we use in the USA is distorted for someone from another part of the world: middle-east. From our geographical location, the region we label “middle-east” may be appropriate, but for someone from India, this term is nonsense. For someone from India, a better term may be something like “the near west.” The point of being aware of labels allows us to become decentralized and see the world around us with more understanding, open eyes.