Home > Resources > Blog > Race Matters in the Classroom > The Ferguson Effect
Selected Items Select an item by clicking its checkbox
Select an item by clicking its checkbox


January 01, 1970

Fumitaka Matsuoka

About Fumitaka Matsuoka

My research question is how far a Christian identity can be stretched and yet still remains "Christian" and who determines the limits and for what reasons. This question is explored in light of the kakurekirishitan (Hidden Christians) studies in Japan. More precisely, the question is that of how the historically singular epistemology embodied in the "one-God" understandings of Christianity has played out in multiple readings of reality, a "many gods" epistemology, in Japan. I would claim that the "character of love" as defined by Ernst Troeltsch’s notion of the revelation of Christ is a distinct Christian faith paradigm that takes on the character of "the Sounding of the Heart" even when the historical identity of Christ is extensively eroded, the "sounding" that speaks to people beyond the difference of the worlds with the language that is so intimate that it profoundly grasps their hearts.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rashomon is a great film. As you point out, the film is told from four different perspectives, and there are four contradictory accounts of the crime. In Ferguson, multiple witnesses tell the same story of the murder of Mike Brown. Still, Darren Wilson has not been arrested.

  2. Matsuokasan;

    You illustrate your thoughts perfectly through the fascinating Rashomon story. Thank you.

    I couldn’t agree more with your analysis that “one’s location” or perhaps context is a gateway to producing readings of race that are contradictory. We are faced with very similar problems when undertaking the hermeneutics of any concern. Not only can we be misguided by our cultural experience, but also how our historical paths inform each of us.

    The application of Heidegger’s hermeneutical circle may be appropriate to these considerations. Perhaps even some hybrid that considers a heuristic element as suggested by Schon?

    Should we consider interactions with others differently than we might with an ancient text? I strongly suspect that many are guilty of unwittingly and innocently applying eisegesis and then sometime later, find themselves confused because their interpretations didn’t accurately reflect the relationship.

    Posted by: Paula Swanson |

Wabash Center