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Honouring one’s own identity need not mean rejecting others. One can embrace an ethnic or religious heritage, while also sharing a sense of national or regional pride. To cite a timely example, I believe one can live creatively and purposefully as both a devoted Muslim and a committed European.
To affirm a particular identity is a fundamental human right, what some have called “the right to be heard.” But the right to be heard implies an obligation to listen – and, beyond that, a proactive obligation to observe and to learn.
Surely, one of the most important tests of moral leadership is whether our leaders are working to widen divisions – or to bridge them.
Toronto, 15 October 2010
To affirm a particular identity is a fundamental human right, what some have called “the right to be heard.” But the right to be heard implies an obligation to listen – and, beyond that, a proactive obligation to observe and to learn.
Surely, one of the most important tests of moral leadership is whether our leaders are working to widen divisions – or to bridge them.
Toronto, 15 October 2010