Babel
I've been thinking a lot about the story of the Tower of Babel lately. What got me started down that train of thought was wishing that I knew Spanish. That somehow I could just magically, based on the 2 years worth of primary school classes I had, remember everything, and put it together into a coherent whole without having to relearn the language.
Not knowing a language that is being spoken around you feels deeply alienating. My brain would search for patterns and meaning, finding small clues here and there, but on the whole I was completely in the dark. With time, effort, and immersion, I'd be fine. But right off the bat? The alienation led to a sense of constant unease, a deep knowledge that I would be unable to express my needs if I had to. I found it very reassuring that most of the people around me knew English very well, and were happy to communicate with me using it.
THAT got me to thinking about the power of language, the power dynamics behind being able to expect others to know your tongue when you don't know theirs, ESPECIALLY when you're in their home. Colonialism at its finest.
So, the Tower of Babel. For those who don't know the story, here it is:
Genesis Chapter 11
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
To me, this has always been a story about the awesome power of unity. The tone one reads the story with can change the perspective of who is good and who is bad; one can take away a lesson about the pride of humanity being rightfully brought low by god, or about the pettiness of a deity threatened by the burgeoning power of his creation.
But no matter how you read it there is that underlying concept, that humanity united would have been capable of anything.
I don't believe in a God who scattered humanity to the winds, confusing their languages and essentially creating discord and chaos on purpose in order to suppress the rise of his creation. I don't really believe in any god. But as a parable for the loss of unity that has plagued humanity, creating misunderstandings and causing war and chaos, I find this story absolutely fascinating.
It makes me think of how differently I react to a situation when I feel secure in my ability to understand every subtle nuance of what is happening. My hackles aren't raised, my defenses aren't up, because I am not on high alert. My interpretations of actions are forgiving, because I have no reason for them not to be. When we are at peace in amongst those who know and understand us, and whom we know and understand, there is room for misunderstandings that don't escalate, that are course corrected immediately.
I would not give up diversity for anything. Languages, in all their weird and convoluted glory, are a fascinating and intrinsic part of humanity.
But it makes me sad, and so frustrated, to think of that original metaphorical Tower being torn down by fear and a need to keep humanity in its place. It's a story that taught people who read the bible to distrust human unity, and rely solely on the word of a god who demanded unity only under his banner.
Terrible things are again happening in the name of that god, will continue to happen. And to me, this particular story does a good reason of explaining why. Because that god, that belief, is incapable of letting down their defenses and listening. A common language, a common reality, is a threat to the power of their god, their beliefs.
Not knowing a language that is being spoken around you feels deeply alienating. My brain would search for patterns and meaning, finding small clues here and there, but on the whole I was completely in the dark. With time, effort, and immersion, I'd be fine. But right off the bat? The alienation led to a sense of constant unease, a deep knowledge that I would be unable to express my needs if I had to. I found it very reassuring that most of the people around me knew English very well, and were happy to communicate with me using it.
THAT got me to thinking about the power of language, the power dynamics behind being able to expect others to know your tongue when you don't know theirs, ESPECIALLY when you're in their home. Colonialism at its finest.
So, the Tower of Babel. For those who don't know the story, here it is:
Genesis Chapter 11
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
To me, this has always been a story about the awesome power of unity. The tone one reads the story with can change the perspective of who is good and who is bad; one can take away a lesson about the pride of humanity being rightfully brought low by god, or about the pettiness of a deity threatened by the burgeoning power of his creation.
But no matter how you read it there is that underlying concept, that humanity united would have been capable of anything.
I don't believe in a God who scattered humanity to the winds, confusing their languages and essentially creating discord and chaos on purpose in order to suppress the rise of his creation. I don't really believe in any god. But as a parable for the loss of unity that has plagued humanity, creating misunderstandings and causing war and chaos, I find this story absolutely fascinating.
It makes me think of how differently I react to a situation when I feel secure in my ability to understand every subtle nuance of what is happening. My hackles aren't raised, my defenses aren't up, because I am not on high alert. My interpretations of actions are forgiving, because I have no reason for them not to be. When we are at peace in amongst those who know and understand us, and whom we know and understand, there is room for misunderstandings that don't escalate, that are course corrected immediately.
I would not give up diversity for anything. Languages, in all their weird and convoluted glory, are a fascinating and intrinsic part of humanity.
But it makes me sad, and so frustrated, to think of that original metaphorical Tower being torn down by fear and a need to keep humanity in its place. It's a story that taught people who read the bible to distrust human unity, and rely solely on the word of a god who demanded unity only under his banner.
Terrible things are again happening in the name of that god, will continue to happen. And to me, this particular story does a good reason of explaining why. Because that god, that belief, is incapable of letting down their defenses and listening. A common language, a common reality, is a threat to the power of their god, their beliefs.
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