Messing with Malevolent Metaphors
Exploring the role of metaphors in
Christian teaching about purity and sanctity.
As a child I
learned that sin made my heart black. I learned this lesson by means of small
plastic hearts dangling from a chain. Hearts are red, white and black. You start with a black heart. All have sinned. Red hearts mean Jesus' blood cleanses, White hearts mean we're all cleaned up.
For many Christians,
white is good, pure, clean and holy. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Black is bad,
evil, and linked to sin. We’ll never measure up—the good things we do are but filthy
rags. Outer darkness is where you go if you die without Jesus.
So what's the problem with such metaphors? Is it possible that metaphors, which glorify whiteness and link blackness to sin influence, racist attitudes? Do religious metaphors guide our thinking about people?
Metaphors
My task the week I wrote this post was to teach a lesson at church about metaphors and morality based on the third chapter of
Richard Beck’s book, Unclean. By
chapter three—the one on metaphors— Beck has already reviewed the broad
foundation of research on disgust and its link to morality. Since childhood we
have learned to avoid that which is unclean, yucky, and disgusting and if
something disgusting gets in our mouth, on or near our body, we forcefully
reject it.
Early learning appears
to occur when two events occur together. Sometimes the contiguity is helpful as
in hot things burn. But at other times, the association suggests a false
conclusion about nature. Unless challenged, two things that occur together are
often thought to be causally related. And strangely, humans sometimes think
causality is bidirectional.
Chen-Bo Zhong and his colleagues study moral psychology. They have illustrated the problem of morality and causality using an example of the
beliefs of the Nuer people from South Sudan and western Ethiopia. One belief is
that a woman’s adultery will cause a husband to feel back pain. And conversely,
a husband’s back pain is evidence that his wife committed adultery.
Experiments in U.S. psychology labs reveal
the often unconscious connection between various unethical activities and an
irrational desire for physical cleansing such as when participants select
mouthwash after lying.
So what’s the
bridge between life experience and moral judgments? Beck's answer is metaphor. In
Beck’s words, “The link between disgust and morality is mediated by
metaphor (p. 33).”
There's been a
considerable amount of research on morality and metaphor since Beck published
his book, yet researchers continue to refer to the work of Lakoff and Johnson to
illustrate how our early sensory motor experiences structure cognition,
including the metaphors we use to organize thinking.
"The
essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in
terms of another." (#60 158) (Lakoff and Johnson,
1980)
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The idea of cognitive embodiment of morality is
based on the words we use for that which is good or bad. For example, UP is good. We stand up when we are healthy and working. We
lie down when we are tired, ill, or
dying. Good things like heaven are up and the earth is down with hell even
lower.
Things above us are superior and those below
us are inferior. God is a Supreme
Being who lives above us. Good people are on a pedestal. Being called to be a
pastor or priest was said to be a higher
calling. And those persons were held to higher standards of moral conduct. In
their high position, they were considered closer to God than their congregants.
And some were found to have feet of clay.
People who do not
live up to certain standards or expectations must step down from their
position. In some societies, inferior people bow before leaders. A more subtle
embodiment can be seen in eye-contact that is made or averted depending on
one’s perceived status. Politicians know that uncovering or even alleging
sexual wrongdoing can destroy the progress of a competing candidate.
Evil is opposite
to good and brings people down. Evil people cause good people to stumble and
fall. Evil can be a spirit or force that acts like gravity to pull people down.
We want the force to be with us and not against us. Good forces, like good
people, appear white and evil is conveniently displayed as black—so we can tell
the difference.
Face metaphors
abound. We face our equals. We are shamefaced when we have done wrong. Our
faces are saved when wrongdoing is hidden or pardoned or in some way not made
public.
People who know someone's sin have "dirt on them." As children soil their diapers, some adults "soil their reputations." Wet dirt is mud and alleging people have done wrong is "mudslinging."
Unclean people are “dirt bags” or pigs—animals that wallow in mud. People who tell jokes about sex have dirty minds that are also so low that their minds are in street gutters.
Dirt as a
metaphor can be helpful because we can wash and be clean again. A shower can
help people feel clean from wrongdoing. Baptism in water cleanses souls. We
wash our hands of dirty matters. (Remember Pilate and Macbeth.) Oddly, a corpse is washed and clothed before being placed in the dirt when given a proper burial.
Inside a house,
dirt must be swept up or vacuumed up and placed outside so the house will be
clean. Dirt should not be swept under a rug or hidden—it has to be outside.
When leaders do wrong, new leaders are expected to clean house. The dirty
rotten scoundrels must be removed. Wrong doing is to be exposed not covered up.
Fighting is a
good thing for boys to do but a low blow is not allowed under the rules of
correct fighting. Like sex, fighting can
be dirty or clean. Censors are mostly concerned about two things--sex and violence.
Metaphors of Salvation and Redemption
The biblical
language of salvation makes use of metaphors and symbolic rituals to help
people develop a relationship with a holy God. Christians are baptized in water and are thus symbolically clean. They are also metaphorically washed in the blood of Jesus--the sacrificial lamb. Christians celebrate the salvation experience in the Eucharist-- eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus.
The newly redeemed can feel clean, forgiven, and worthy of helping others connect to God. They are on the right path headed toward a glorious reward. The cleaning process involves the expression of certain beliefs, confession of sins, repentance or turning away from sins, and participation in various rituals such as prayer, bible reading, baptism, and good works.
The newly redeemed can feel clean, forgiven, and worthy of helping others connect to God. They are on the right path headed toward a glorious reward. The cleaning process involves the expression of certain beliefs, confession of sins, repentance or turning away from sins, and participation in various rituals such as prayer, bible reading, baptism, and good works.
New Christians are metaphorically born again. Like babies, they are wrapped, protected, and nurtured. They are vulnerable to diseases.
Like recovering addicts, the redeemed must avoid their weaknesses and former associates. And some are called to warn others of disastrous living.
On the one hand, we
observe the joy of the one who is clean, guilt-free, and in relationship with a Holy God; on
the other hand, we observe that happy, holy people are often distant from the tragic
and downtrodden denizens displayed on city sidewalks.
And too often we see churches where most people have a similar skin color.
The metaphors of
salvation also mark the boundaries between those on the inside and those on the
outside.
Some people are
clean and some are dirty.
Some people are
worthy and some are unworthy.
Some people are
living in sin and some are not.
Some people are
heaven bound and some are hell-bound.
Religious creeds divide large societies into small tribes.
Religious creeds divide large societies into small tribes.
And each
religious tribe has different lists of that which is clean, worthy, and sinless.
Conclusion
Metaphors are
important to negotiating daily life in any culture. Cultures vary in their
tolerance for deviance. Some metaphors are helpful when they point out
important similarities between what we know and what we do not know.
Some metaphors
are harmful. Metaphors identify some groups of people as evil. Some people are
marked for avoidance and others for destruction.
When Christians
do not evaluate and rework the metaphors governing their morality, they will
often teach others to alienate or destroy rather than love their neighbors.
Questions
Does the black and white language of sin and cleansing influence racism?
What metaphors encourage Christians to embrace those who are unChristian?
What additional metaphors identify people as dirty, unclean?
What metaphors identify the use of quarantine or containment strategies?
What metaphors encourage active avoidance of a particular group of people?
What metaphors encourage us to do nothing?
What metaphors suggest destruction of those who are dark, dirty, unclean, or evil?
RELATED QUOTES
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" Jesus (Matthew 5:8)
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” Mahatma Ghandhi
RELATED QUOTES
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" Jesus (Matthew 5:8)
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” Mahatma Ghandhi
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