Is all diversity good?

To what kind of diversity do you speak?

Racial?
Political?
Educational?
Religious?
Ethnic?
National Origin?
Sexual Orientation?
Marital Status?
Socio-economic strata?
Regional?
On and on...

 

No diversity is good if it conflicts with Biblical principles.

For example: I do not want to attend a church that has "spiritual diversity" which deviates from the Truth taught in God's Word.

 

Diversity, in and of itself, is neutral. What humans do with it determines whether it is "good" or "not."

For example, there is nothing right or wrong about having amixture of nationalities in a worship center. Some people would think that that was great (such as me). Other people would find such diversity distracting.

Some people like having a spiritual diversity at their college. Others will go to a Christian college in the homes of having a homogenous culture. For one, diversity is positive, and to the other, diversity is negative.

All depends on the person.

 

Diverse - 1. of a different kind, form, character, etc. (American College Dictionary)

Since you can have the wrong kind, the wrong form, and wrong character then, yes, you can have bad diversity. The arguments aren't over whether different is bad but whether it is different to the point of being wrong.

 

Is all diversity good? No. Is all diversity bad? No.

 

The liitle town that I live in just sent out a questionaire to all the residents which included the question "Do you believe that diversity is a good thing Y/N"? I couldn't answer so I wrote a note next to the question, "Diversity of peoples, yes - Diversity of purpose, no".

Diversity is not good when it serves to divide your family, workplace, community, country, etc.

At some point, diverse peoples must agree to come together or all will be lost. What is written in the scriptures about a house divided against itself? Oh yeah... It cannot stand.

 

A diversity of math teachers. One teaches 2 + 2 = 4, One teaches 2 + 2 = 3, One teaches 2 + 2 = 5. Sure is diverse. The administrator desires this diversity. That is bad.

A diversity of math teachers. A carpenter teaches that 2" + 2" = 4", an engineer teaches that 2 microns + 2 microns = 4 microns, a doctor teaches that 2mg + 2mg = 4mg. Sure is diverse. The administrator desires this diversity. That is good.

Do you want your doctors to have a diversity of skills (some good, some bad)? Do you want your brake mechanic to use a diversity of materials or the best? Do you want a diversity of change from the cashier or do you want the correct change?

The idea of not allowing differences which DON"T make a difference, to not make a difference, is a good thing. The idea of not allowing differences which DO make a difference, to not make a difference, is a bad thing.

 

1 Cor 12 has examples of good diversity and bad diversity.

 

Well said !!

 

As I said, diversity is neutral. What people do with it makes it good or bad. For example, I believe that diversity in the workplace and in academia is a good thing. Other people believe it to be bad. Here is an illustration: Champions College (which I just made up, I think), has fifty percent females and fifty percent males. Twenty-five percent of the students are white, 25% are black, 25% are Latino, and 25% fall under another category. Personally, I would like a university such as this. I believe that I can learn a lot from other cultures. Jerry, (another person I made up), doesn't feel comfortable around so many people that are not like him. He would not want to attend a college such as this. Who is right?

Well, neither of us. We both have our personal preferences. Diversity is also seen in the same way. Some people enjoy heterogeny, other people enjoy homogeny. Personally, I lean more towards appreciating diversity myself. I enjoy surrounding myself with people who have different skin color, nationality, ethnicity, political views, marital states, ages, and so on. There are times, however, when I enjoy just spending time with people who are like me. This doesn't make me more right or more wrong than those who would rather surround themselves with people just like them. As long as we continue to show the Christian principles of love, mercy, and justice to all people (whether they are like us or not), we will be acting properly as representatives of Christ.

BTW, I didn't get this from a liberal textbook. I'm postmodernic - that's how my generation thinks.

 

And you would notice that I said nothing about qualifications there, did I? I didn't say anything abou why they were there. Perhaps this says a lot about your own feelings of diversity!

I didn't have to learn postmodernism. It is something that comes naturally to my generation. David Dockery, the president of Union University (who is in no way a liberal) is the editor of a great book called, "The Challenge of Postmodernism." Postmodern, in its most simplist terms, is "the era that follows the modern age." The modern age was highlighted by four specific motifs - autonomous individualism, narcissistic hedonism, reductive natrualism, and absolute moral relativism. Basically, the postmodern world is that we all construct our own perspectives of truth. There exists Truth (capital T), but we all have our own perspectives of it that we gain through a variety of methods. We both believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life, but we have different perspectives of it. Both of us, and hopefully all on this board, are trying to understand Truth the best way we can. There is much, much more involved in postmodernism, but the fact is that my generation (25 and younger) do live in a postmodern world and a postmodern era. The call is for Christians to reach them where they are and help them as they author their story and learn about the Truth of the gospel.

 

As a good example of how diversity of purpose can cause havoc. Is that good? You asked, "Is all diversity good"?