Quick response to Deadly Viper & Asian American controversy
I’m fascinated by the discussion going around the blogosphere regarding the marketing of “Deadly Viper: Character Assassins”, a book apparently about Christian leadership. You wouldn’t be able to tell that from the dragon emblazoned on it’s cover, the Asian characters printed by the title, or the subtitle: “A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership”. I’m sure the authors of the book had no idea that their innocently packaged book of positive and potentially life-changing truths would offend so many. If you haven’t gotten around to following the discussion, I totally recommend it. I personally learned about it starting from Pastor Drew Hyun’s blog: http://drewhyun.wordpress.com/ [Side note: Pastor Drew will be speaking for our Epic East Coast Conference...very exciting!]
What intrigues me about this conversation are people’s responses to the basic statement, “your portrayal of my culture offends/upsets me.” These responses have ranged from “why are you offended? can’t you take a joke?” or “you should feel honored that they’re using your culture to promote such great values.” The most interesting response is, “Well, I’m Asian, and I’m not offended, so you shouldn’t feel offended either.”
It makes me think about the verse, “But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:24-26)
If one part of the body considers something hurtful or humiliating, shouldn’t the whole body make every effort to understand why and corrrect it? I’m sure that the writers and publisher of this book have learned a lot through this conversation. Hopefully they’ll be able to present their message in a more culturally-aware and sensitive manner.
As for the authors, I’m sure they have suffered much from all the angry, sarcastic, mean and unloving responses posted on blogs, FaceBook, and Twitter. For that, we need to apologize (which many have already). Let’s suffer with each other, and honor each other….I pray we may quickly rejoice with each other too as we see our culture begin changing for good.
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hi glennis, thanks for modeling a gracious response to all this. race is never an easy thing to talk about and it’s been interesting to follow this conversation on the internet, where people are usually a lot more candid than in person.
ps. good ‘seeing’ you the other day
Thanks Steph! It really is hard to balance “grace AND truth.” People need to know this *really* bothers the Asian American community, and as Christians, we have to learn how to do it in a way that communicates love and forgiveness. It is unfortunate that this incident had to happen, but at least it offers opportunities for conversation to happen.
[...] Cho, Charles Lee, David Park, Shaun King, Glennis Shih, Skye Jethani, Rudy Carrasco, Drew Hyun, Ed Cyzewski, Daniel So, Jim Gray, DK Daniel Kim, Kathy [...]
Just curious, but using your reference of 1 Cor. 12:24-26 couldn’t it also be said that since there were just as many, if not more people seeing positive life change because of Deadly Vipers, that the ones who were upset should have rejoiced with them?
Was it really worth destroying a community of people who found serious healing through the People of the Second Chance movement? I may not fall in a ethnic background that finds itself highly discriminated against, but since when did hurt feelings trump changed lives?
I guess I’m just coming from a place where I’m really exhausted of many things getting turned into a race conversation. When its intent was the furthest from racial.
Hey Joe! Thanks for stopping by! I’m super tired but I want to share some thoughts before heading to bed.
1) “…using your reference of 1 Cor. 12:24-26 couldn’t it also be said that since there were just as many, if not more people seeing positive life change because of Deadly Vipers, that the ones who were upset should have rejoiced with them?”
I can see where you are coming from. And yes, I DO rejoice over the life change that is happening through the HEART of what DV is all about. I haven’t read the book yet, and I hope to do so someday soon. However, it is really hard for many in the AA community to get past the cover. Prof. Rah is much more eloquent about the many aspects of the book that are offensive: http://bit.ly/40mQuU
Is it right that just because the majority is positively influenced by this book, that the minority (who is *negatively* affected) should not speak up? It is a type of oppression and injustice that many of us in the Asian American community feel needs to be addressed.
2) “Was it really worth destroying a community of people who found serious healing through the People of the Second Chance movement? I may not fall in a ethnic background that finds itself highly discriminated against, but since when did hurt feelings trump changed lives?”
To these questions I have to ask: “Since when did changed lives (of the majority culture) trump the feelings/culture/identity of a few people (those in the minority culture)?”
I certainly hope that the DV authors would continue sharing their message, but without using the stuff that is unrelated to the HEART of their message. They can totally share this message of integrity and second chances without using references to “Kung Fu” and mocking the way our language sounds [e.g. a line from their book: "There is a killer called Zi Qi Qi Ren. No, this is not some communicable disease, but it certainly is deadly. This funky Chinese word literally means “self deception while deceiving others.].
3) “I guess I’m just coming from a place where I’m really exhausted of many things getting turned into a race conversation. When its intent was the furthest from racial.”
Well. I wish I could record all the movies, radio programs, TV shows, all the taunts of peers growing up, comments of professors, neighbors, etc. etc. that make everything Asian Americans do and say become a “race conversation.” Even the greeting, “Where are you from?” becomes a “race conversation” because when I say, “I’m from New York,” the response often is, “No, I mean where are you REALLY from?” [I was actually born and raised in NY, but if you asked where my parents are from, I'd say they are from Taiwan.] SO, I’m sorry you are “really exhausted.” But I pray that the Lord would grant you perseverance. I pray that you will not give up trying to understand the hurts, fears, and experiences of your ethnic minority brothers and sisters. I personally believe that the authors of the book mourn the fact that they have offended their Asian American brothers and sisters. And I pray that one day we can rejoice as we make steps towards reconciliation.
Thank you again for sharing! It’s past 1:30…I should get ready for bed now. G’night!
Still not sleeping! (Is it really 2:54 where you are??)
Thanks for taking the time to pray about it. I will be praying with you, brother.
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Still not sleeping! (Is it really 2:54 where you are??)
Thanks for taking the time to pray about it. I will be praying with you, brother.
I am glad to hear that Zondervan pulled Jud’s “Deadly Viper” book. I have attended Central Christian Church in Las Vegas (Jud Wilhite’s church) on numerous occassions over the past 4 years. I have found that Church also makes fun of other ethnic groups, the Latinos and Italians, in their videos. During one of the Christmas videos (before Deadly Viper came out), they even portrayed Italians tieing up one of their family members, duck taping his mouth, and throwing him the truck of a car. They were portraying them as mafia. I tried to address the issue with the powers that be at Central. All I got was a backlashing from them, or a “go away” attitude from them. All they did was started laughing, I don’t think God is laughing!
During the services, Jud tries to sell Christianity as a product instead of a deep personal relationship with God, our creator.
They play secular music at Central which in no way worships God. They are worshipping themselves for being able to play the songs (such as I Want To Hold Your Hand, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, and Don’t Stop Believing – trying to reinact the TV show “Glee”). I truly believe that those songs do not belong in a church. They are just showing that Central is part of this world and not part of God’s Kingdom. It is very rarely that you hear Jesus’ name mentioned during the service.
Needless to say, I no longer associate myself with Central. After attending there, it’s hard to believe that there is a God who loves and cares for you.
-”‘ I am really thankful to this topic because it really gives great information ,-.
Thanks so much for the in-depth reply. I really appreciate it! Going to pray your thoughts over and search my heart.