WARNING: This post is heavy and rambling. I am just thinking out loud and the things may not be related at all, just many things.
As a missionary I try to help those in the margin of the society. Let it be economic, political, religious, racial or gender discriminations, it all involves struggle between the center and the margin. The center, however, holds the power and once we have the power we can effect the change, so we need to occupy the center, so goes the argument.
Reflecting on my personal experiences I want to learn why it is so difficult to correct the wrongs and we seem so resistant to change. It is right and noble to advocate for the welfare of the less privileged. How should we go about it? Should we try to get to the position of power and enact the change, or should we stand with those at the margin and demand changes? Two short years ago, we welcomed Barak Obama into the most powerful seat sharing the hope for a change, only to blame him for all difficulties we face and the unrealized hope. Yes, the Republicans and far-rights engineered and flamed the discontent for their political gains, but I do not believe they are all that smart and powerful. The election results reflect a great deal of frustration, sense of betrayal and just plain anger. How did that happen?
One very simple and naive theory is that once we reach the center, others become in the margin by definition. When Obama became the president, those who were in the previous administration and their followers were pushed out to the margin, at least in their minds. It probably was the first time in a very long while that they experienced seeing someone visually, socially and racially different from their own in the center. They made the alienation complete by throwing in manufactured religious difference as well. They wanted to justify their discomfort. When the economy crashed and pushed many economic middle class into humiliating marginal lifestyle, they found a convenient excuse other than their own greed and selfishness. Another reason may be that when Obama entered the seat of power, he found the necessity of housekeeping details took his energy and focus away. One can be a one-issue candidate, but not one-issue president.
As the economy improves, there is always a lag, and seeing the new leadership in congress speaking loudly the sense of alienation will diminish and the extreme voices will lose their appeal, I pray. The Republican leaders will claim that as their contribution, so be it. But this note is not about U.S. politics, it is about missionaries working to help those in the margin.
When we enter into marginalized communities we bring our background, generally more privileged than the community, and access to resources and power. We want to advocate for the people and to help equip the people to fight for themselves and improve their situation. But here is the irony. We are very reluctant to yield the center in this process. That is, we do not want to play the supporting role in the fringes. We want to help those in the margin, but do not want to experience the margin within the marginalized community. We end up further marginalizing the people we want to help. They wonder whether we really want to help, and we wonder whether they want to help themselves at all? Is it necessary for us to experience what it feels like to be marginalized, in order to become a part of the community and is it necessary to be a part of the community? My personal opinion is yes and yes to these questions. We may not become a part of the community no matter how hard we try, but we must be willing. When I served in Nepal, our organization was dedicated to serving the lower class folks in the caste system, whose voices were silenced by their religion, culture and political systems. I could commiserate with them as I remembered the frustration and the accompanying low self-esteem when I was learning French before our assignment in DR Congo. Shared experiences allow us to communicate in a higher or deeper level.
Another question is the effectiveness of enacting changes from the center. Certainly power has privileges and quick structural changes possible, but provides energy and rationale for resistance. I wondered what it would have been like if Dr. Martin Luther King became a governor or even the president rather than the voice in the wilderness. Would he have had more influence on the equal rights of the racial minorities? What if Jesus took the throne of King Herod? I think they knew and chose to be the powerful voice rather than the secular power.
I have been in enough administrative positions to know that someone has to administer, I simply choose to be the voice. I must be willing and do occasionally experience the 'marginalness" not to be complacent and energyless. So help me God.
