BBC Reith Lecture, 2016
In the first Reith Lecture of 2016 ‘Creed’ Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah explores religion and its role in identity.
Appiah challenges the notion that we can only understand religion through an idea of belief and adherence based on religious texts. This seems reductive when he outlines the role of practice and community in a religious persons life.
Sighting how customs and understanding of religious texts changes and evloves, Appiah distances the lived experience of most believers (interpretation and praxis) of their faith from a fundamentalist narrative based on a set understanding of highly selective elements of scripture.
Appiah describes the necessity of continually reinterpreting religious texts so religion can be understood and practiced with relevance in modern life.
Appiah used his own mixed background and resulting patchwork of religious, cultural and community practices, to illustrate how these elements of custom and creed can be inextricable and forms an individuals’ unique identity.
This is helpful for teachers as it reminds us not to assume we know something about a student or colleague because we know they identify with a particular faith. When we take faith in its broadest sense (encompassing the customs, interpretations and community which form an individuals relationship with faith) we are reminded of the complexity of identity.
Appiah, P., 2016. BBC REITH LECTURE Creed.