Written by Nora Johnson and Justin Duyao<\/p>\n
Even 17 years after the last episode of \u201cMr. Roger\u2019s Neighborhood\u201d aired on PBS, the lyrics of the show\u2019s theme song are still familiar. In many ways, Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister turned television staple, has set the standard of neighborliness in the American mind.<\/p>\n
In an essay for The New York Times, Davy Rothbart recounted a conversation with Rogers in 2001, the same year the last episode of his show aired. Rothbart was working on a story about neighborly conflict and decided to seek the advice of America\u2019s most recognizable neighbor. Together, he and Rogers listened to recordings of disputes between several of Rothbart\u2019s Chicago-area neighbors. Rothbart said it was clear the members of his community were afraid of having conversations with one another but could not understand why.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps we think that there are some people in this world whom I can\u2019t ever communicate with, and so I\u2019ll just give up before I try,\u201d Rogers pondered. \u201cAnd how sad it is to think that we would give up on any other creature who\u2019s just like us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This sentiment is evident not only between individuals who live in the same neighborhoods and cities, but also between the U.S., its neighbor-states and many other developing countries throughout the world.<\/p>\n
According to a BBC World Service poll, citizens of emerging economies are increasingly identifying themselves as global rather than national citizens, while the trend in industrialized nations seems to be heading in the opposite direction. In other words, Americans are less likely to consider the needs of the world as their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in a very individualistic culture,\u201d said Ken Graves, director of Global Outreach, an organization on Harding\u2019s campus that equips students for worldwide missions.<\/p>\n
Graves explained it is easy to gravitate toward people to whom we relate, who believe the same things and hold the same opinions, because this minimizes conflict, especially when it comes to religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201c[As Christians] we don\u2019t like to be accused any more than we already are of being obnoxious, belligerent, intolerant, judgmental,\u201d Graves said. \u201cTo not appear judgmental, to not push our religion on anyone else, we recoil \u2014 we hide behind our personal faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem with gravitating toward a singular group with which you naturally identify is the tendency that usually follow \u2014 to favor that group above others. As Graves identified, this tendency can be innocent at first, part of an effort to avoid disagreement within a pluralistic culture; but the longer it is allowed to persist in a culture, the more deeply it separates peoples and accentuates the differences that separate them.<\/p>\n
According to Penn State University\u2019s definition of ethnocentricity, though communal and tribal prioritization is natural, it cannot in itself be conducive to progress or growth within today\u2019s inherently diverse community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea behind ethnocentrism is that people who are not part of our group are perceived as being all the same because they aren\u2019t one of us, so we treat them differently (usually not as well),\u201d PSU reported.<\/p>\n
Graves emphasized that, within the Christian community, any comfortability with ethnocentrism directly contradicts the aim of the gospel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are children of God, and God loves the whole world \u2026 we have to love the whole world,\u201d Graves said. \u201cWe cannot seclude ourselves into this small little community or village and say, \u2018I can be a Christian right here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as of the fall of 2017, 82 percent of students at Harding are white. Within the 18 percent of minority races represented, there are more than 250 international students from 54 nations, as reported by Harding. At an institution where a single racial majority vastly out-numbers all others, yet so many other people groups are represented, relating to individuals that you might not typically spend time with is vital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should always be a good neighbor. \u2026 We don\u2019t have the luxury of saying \u2018I\u2019m going to be a good neighbor only to the people in my proximity,\u2019\u201d Graves said.<\/p>\n
The second installment of the \u201cWill You Be My Neighbor?\u201d series will appear in the next edition of The Bison, on stands Oct. 19.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Nora Johnson and Justin Duyao Even 17 years after the last episode of \u201cMr. Roger\u2019s Neighborhood\u201d aired on PBS, the lyrics of the show\u2019s theme song are still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15086,"featured_media":11555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[350,352,351,349],"class_list":["post-11553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-global-outreach","tag-ken-graves","tag-mr-rogers-neighborhood","tag-mr-rogers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}