{"id":3985,"date":"2008-03-06T00:20:18","date_gmt":"2008-03-06T05:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/"},"modified":"2008-03-06T00:20:18","modified_gmt":"2008-03-06T05:20:18","slug":"east-west-and-the-grand-rajah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/","title":{"rendered":"East, West and the Grand Rajah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \u201cRajah\u201d which means \u201cking\u201d, \u201cRaj\u201d means \u201cprince\u201d and \u201cKumar\u201d means \u201cson.\u201d Boaz is from India and we talk almost every day about our academic work, our school, our department, our families and much about life in general. (He teaches Old Testament, which I don\u2019t hold against him but it does put limits on things.) I told a story about his wonderful wife, Sarita, in Jesus Creed<\/em> and we get together as couples as often as we can. And Boaz will be flying off to India this week because his father, an aged man, has taken a turn toward glory. Anyway\u2026
\nI read this piece<\/a> in the IHT<\/em> yesterday morning and got to talk to Boaz about communication styles. The article is not insensitive to stereotypes but knows there are differences that multiculturalism is seeking to illuminate. Sometimes \u2026 how should I put this? \u2026 well, sometimes, we aren\u2019t tracking. So, the piece about how East and West talks about how we see a picture and how brains work and how culture shapes what we see \u2026 all this put things together for us and we chatted and laughed about one another and how we communicate at times.
\nHere\u2019s an example: when Boaz reports to me about a meeting or an event he can talk and talk and I get more and more impatient and then all of a sudden I\u2019ll say, \u201cRajah, what was the decision?!\u201d (Argh.) \u201cOh, Scot, everything turned out great.\u201d Well, I think to myself, why in the world didn\u2019t you just say that? It\u2019s because, as he would put it, he\u2019s East and I\u2019m West (and I\u2019m probably more West than most). I think linear-ly and focus on the logic and the big idea; Boaz doesn\u2019t focus as I do \u2014 he paints hues and corners and background of what happened and, doggonit, he might just start with a minor character or an unimportant detail or something rather tangential. Not me \u2014 I get right to the point. Which means I don\u2019t give hues and colors and background and atmosphere.
\nSo yesterday we chatted about this and I know we made progress in our communication styles and next time when he asks me what happened \u2026 you watch \u2026 I\u2019m going to paint something odd and unusual and see if he doesn\u2019t say back to me, \u201cScot, wow, now I see what happened.\u201d If he says, \u201cWhat was the decision?,\u201d I\u2019ll say back, \u201cDon\u2019t rush me, Grand Rajah.\u201d
\nWe have to be exceedingly careful about stereotyping folks from East and West, but scientific studies that show Western individualism contrasts with Eastern non-individualism are hardly something new\u2026 but just wondering what you are thinking. Experiences like this?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \u201cRajah\u201d which means \u201cking\u201d, \u201cRaj\u201d means \u201cprince\u201d and \u201cKumar\u201d means \u201cson.\u201d Boaz is from India and we talk almost every day about our academic work, our school, our department, our families and much about life in general. (He teaches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nEast, West and the Grand Rajah<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the "Rajah" which means "king", "Raj" means "prince" and "Kumar" means "son."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"East, West and the Grand Rajah\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the "Rajah" which means "king", "Raj" means "prince" and "Kumar" means "son."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/\",\"name\":\"East, West and the Grand Rajah\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \\\"Rajah\\\" which means \\\"king\\\", \\\"Raj\\\" means \\\"prince\\\" and \\\"Kumar\\\" means \\\"son.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"East, West and the Grand Rajah\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"East, West and the Grand Rajah","description":"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \"Rajah\" which means \"king\", \"Raj\" means \"prince\" and \"Kumar\" means \"son.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"East, West and the Grand Rajah","og_description":"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \"Rajah\" which means \"king\", \"Raj\" means \"prince\" and \"Kumar\" means \"son.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00","author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/","name":"East, West and the Grand Rajah","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00","dateModified":"2008-03-06T05:20:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"One of my best friends and a colleague is Rajkumar Boaz Johnson. I call him the \"Rajah\" which means \"king\", \"Raj\" means \"prince\" and \"Kumar\" means \"son.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/03\/06\/east-west-and-the-grand-rajah\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"East, West and the Grand Rajah"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}