Monday, March 21, 2022 (03:10)

Labels are good

Don’t judge people, but judge documents

Assigning labels like “hateful”, “friendly”, “true” or “false” to documents is not bad. It is good and important. But it is important to also remember who assigned the label and when. And the author of the label must be able to remove or change it. And the label itself must accept judgement from others. Labels are similar to definitions: they help us to synthesize reality and to start a dialogue if needed. Not having the possibility to say your opinion and enter into dialogue about some document would limit our freedom of speech. Social media platforms offer this possibility via a simple upvote or downvote button.

Have an identity

Synodality means to have an identity so we know who we are and what we want. Christians do not currently have a legal identity that unites them all. There are “Catholic”, “Protestant” and “Orthodox” Christians, but “simply Christians” don’t exist.

The identity of a community requires documents that define:

• our common mission statement and constitution

• the rules we adhere to

• the services we offer to others

Nowadays these documents are usually made available on a public website where everybody can consult them.