Identity Politics

Personal identities are immensely important for the experience and life of individuals and smaller  groups. I also absolutely hate how identity politics plays out collectively in society today and how identity politics are used by the immensely corrupt, violent, and increasingly authoritarian party driven system to divide, conquer, oppress, and scare voters.

Personal identities are so important because they shape so much of our experiences on earth. Unfortunately, however, our identities are also used to divide voters from each other and pit us against each other, which is perpetually frustrating and violent, and incredibly destructive to our communities and democratic republic.

It’s also immensely important to acknowledge that NO part of any human being’s identity has anything to do with their character. Two individuals with identical identities can have completely opposite characters. In other words, identity politics shapes and dictates “who” someone is but it does not shape or dictate “what” kind of person they are.

When I refer to a human being’s identity this includes but is not limited to an individual’s:

-          Race

-          Ethnicity

-          Religion

-          Spirituality

-          Gender

-          Sexual orientation

-          Partnership Status

-          Career

-      Place of birth, country of residence, citizenship status

-         Net worth, Cash Flow, Income

-          Address

-          Education

-          Height

-          Weight

-          Music, movies, TV, entertainment, food, and drink preferences

Some or all of these things are of course immensely important to the identity of many human beings. They are important parts of our lives and shape who we are. But they do not shape or dictate the quality of soul.

None of these tell us what kind of human being they are. Or what their character is or what their soul is like. None of these parts of our identity tell me if someone is kind, empathetic, or compassionate. None of these parts of our identity tell me if someone is generous, inspiring, or courageous. None of these parts of our identity tell me if someone is supportive, encouraging, and caring towards others. None of these parts of our identity tell me if someone is courageous, tempered, just, and wise. None of these parts of our identity tell me if someone is loving, protective, and hopeful. All of these desirable and positive virtues, principles, and values do not exist in any human being because of our identities- they are determined by our character. They are determined by what we choose to believe and how we think, feel, and act in relation to ourselves and others.   

Furthermore, humans can share ALL of the same identities and have immensely different characters. Humans can also share NONE of the same identities and have immensely similar characters… and everything in between.

Two humans, for example, can have the same race, gender, and career and one human treats everyone with such kindness and respect and the other is unkind and disrespectful to so many. Two humans can have the same religion, sexual orientation, and education and one human is so loving and caring and the other human is manipulative and violent.

Also, despite the fact that our identities have nothing to do with our character as humans and there are many parts of our identities we don’t choose, our identities often dictate who we interact with, who we trust, who we allow into our lives, and who we believe is worthy of love, success, belonging, and abundance.

Instead, however, we should dedicate ourselves to embracing all positive diversities of identities. We must realize that who someone is does not dictate what kind of human being they are, what their values are, what their belief systems are, and what quality of character they have. Who you are, is not what you are. We can value, embrace, and celebrate our positive identities but we must always look deeper into ourselves and others to determine whether the person, whether this soul is of good or bad character.

 To be clear, projecting an honest love for all positive identities is very important. Being open to how diverse human identities can be and appreciating as many as you can is a beautiful part of experiencing the diversity of humanity. But we must also stay focused on and understand that character is what truly matters. Character is what you can judge a human being on. Above all else, someone’s character -their belief systems and how their belief systems shape how a human being thinks, feels, and acts in relation to themselves and others- is what determines the Evil, Goodness, or Wholiness of any human being. And all human beings are capable of improving, changing, adjusting, and evolving all of their belief systems and thus improving all of the different parts of their character and how they think, feel, and act towards themselves and others.  

So please, do your best to appreciate and love all positive human identities. Don’t allow authoritarian forces for the party driven system to divide and conquer our community and country based on our community’s diverse identities. And, please also know that a human’s character- their belief systems and how these belief systems shape how that human thinks, feels, and acts in relation to themselves and others- is what is most important. 

Thank you for reading,

AVK