Donald Trump suggested that diversity programmes had played a part in the mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter in Washington DC back in January. He offered no evidence, and when challenged by reporters as to why he thought this, he replied: “Because I have common sense”. Read BBC News fact-checking Trump’s claims, here.
Dictators struggle to deal with people who are different. When you seek total power, you need people to be compliant. Otherwise it doesn’t work. If 20th century history of dictatorship – from Stalin to Hitler to Pinochet to Mugabe – teaches us anything, it is that, however good your initial intentions may be, if you want absolute power, you will end up crushing the opposition, by whatever means you can find, so as to impede those who think or step out of line.
Yet difference makes life more interesting. An amendment to the pattern enriches it**. Difference presents ways forward that are novel, fresh, off the wall, out of the box. It is a stimulus to innovation and creativity, and essential for any society which wishes to successfully address its problems and move itself forward. Diversity matters because an effective society has something to gain if all parties are encouraged to contribute their skills and unique insights, and not just some.
Former Dean of Westminster Abbey, Michael Mayne, wrote in his wonderful book, ’The Sunrise of Wonder’, of how each of us brings something new: “My value lies in the fact that I am my unique self, that no-one else who has ever lived, or who ever will, can be in exactly my relationship with God, or reflect his love back to him in exactly the same way.” So from a Christian perspective, we each bring a unique insight into God, a unique way of letting his love shine…and no one person is any the more or any the less unique in that respect. He goes on: “Ultimately that’s what life is about: it’s about learning to stand in your own space and discerning in its unfathomable depths a power greater than yourself who invites your attention; and not simply your attention but your love. And it is that kind of giving attention that we call prayer.”
We cannot escape who we are or the God who created and calls us. God calls us each to be ourselves, not some artificial creation or some wannabe. Christianity is about finding out who we are, not denying it. God knows what we are each here for, and we are at fault if we try and avoid it, or, worse still, try to prevent others from finding it out. To quote the great Bob Marley in ‘One Love’, “There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation.”
The American TV series, Atypical, is among the most popular currently on Netflix. It follows the story of an autistic boy, Sam Gardner, as he struggles to achieve his goals in a world which he finds utterly bewildering, while his somewhat dysfunctional family tries to support him. I don’t know if this was the intention of the writers, but it shows the very best of diversity – someone who through his atypical neurological makeup – rather than despite it – can change and improve his life and that of those around him.
We are all enriched by difference. Long may the promotion of diversity be our societal aim and a cause for our celebration.
**There is one tile the wrong way round in the picture above. Can you spot it?