from the little bits of translating I've done, one thing is clear to me... exact correspondence from one language to another rarely happens...
My husband is a very smart man. He is. And one reason he never merged into organized Christianity is because when he would engage Christians, they would have the all-or-nothing approach. And any other shade of meaning he would apply to the text beyond their limited, English-translated understanding (rooted in the current cultural thoughts on it, rooted in upbringing and dogma), then they would accuse him of being an atheist. Seriously. You either go to church, say your prayers, read your Bible, go through all those motions (with the right heart too)... or you don't believe God even exists. All or nothing.
One thing *I* get accused of is not understanding or having read the text. I was once just as conservative, if not more than those who accuse me. Yes, I understand conservative thought because I aligned myself with it, at one point... I just reject its absolute nature now. There are conservative principle I agree with, but not the absolute nature of those principles. And you know what the most amazing part of that is? I reject absolution because of my understanding of Jesus' teachings on a whole - the Bible itself allows me to reject all or nothing thought. That's my conviction, however.
So, my husband when we first met online, asked me how long I'd been a Christian. He said he never spoke to someone who didn't make him feel wrong in what he thought - even though we disagreed on some things. When we started dating, and he was visiting me one time, he came to my church - he was apprehensive, but more curious as to what my church environment must be like to allow me to think that way. He was impressed. He said "I've never heard anyone preach like that before. And I didn't feel judged for expressing something different."
That's the beauty of an evil, ahem, I mean liberal church that allows free thought among Christians, without stigmatizing (by Christian, I am assuming agreement with the orthodox understanding of the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ). In Bible Study, I would hear both conservative and liberal slanted ideas - and no one jumps up and screams heretic. There is disagreement, looking through two completely different lenses - and this is not seen as compromise, but healthy discussion. And for someone who comes in off the street, they are likely going to feel far more welcome than a church that feels the need to correct everyone.
Well, what I was going to say in response to this quote, was that he had some friends, foreign students that come to study here. And he says he always hears "What is wrong with you Americans? Everything is this way or that, only two solutions to a problem." The adversarial mindset here, the black and white mindset (and that includes radical liberals, whose openminded really means anything opposite of conservative thought), is not common - it is quite unique to us. It's perplexing to most other people - and when I say adversarial, I don't mean just religion - but anything, if you don't dogmatically side on one side of the issue or the other, then you are compromising. If you are the "on one hand, but on the other hand" type people, try to see the truth in both sides - doesn't bode well here. Believe me, I have tried, with many various topics on social media. If I see a problem or unintended consequence with an idea, then it is assumed that I'm against the idea altogether. No.... I just think there's a better way to do it. But you either agree 100%, no criticism, with every word, or you don't agree at all. That is not absolute concerning people here, but it seems the norm.
He had one friend who went to Russia to live, being his homeland, and he went to see him. And he started to learn Russian. And he said what you find, is that if you translate what you would say in English here to Russian, they would be confused. For example, if he went up and said "I need a BigNTasty meal." (Yes, they have McD) They would be offended by that - "no, you don't NEED it, who do you think you are?" On the flip side, if here in the states he expressed his desire to order in a way that Russians would expect, he would be deemed highly rude. Russians are far more blunt and honest in expression, than we are. They don't hide their feelings for the sake of conforming to polite society. There are vulgar words that in America are often attributed to anyone that is nonconforming to polite standards - even when those standards mean overt lying to spare feelings. And even if tact was used, the person is still deemed rude. Most people in this country do not like being challenged - at least, that's the overall impression I get.
They think differently. They have different ways of doing things. In Moscow, the traffic caters to the pedestrian, not the other way around. Here, pedestrians are seen almost like a lower class of citizen, in some areas. Because you're not an independant, free American if you're not transporting yourself - even if that means going into debt for a car, and a lot of other expenses you could avoid by riding the bus, IF that were possible for you. And believe me, I've walked enough to know - there is the oppositional, adversarial mindset concerning that relationship. Someone was going too fast in a parking lot, and I stepped out from the store. I had earphones on, but he yelled at me. Well, maybe I shouldn't have earphones on, but you would think people would be going slowing enough IN A PARKING LOT that they could safely and easily stop - I don't know, with the possibility of kids running around and all, you'd think people would be a little more attentive to their speed. That goes for neighborhood roads, that have signs REMINDING you there are kids in the area. I lived on a road in Clarksburg, that had a 10 mph limit, and VERY narrow - people would still fly on that road at 25, 30 mph or more. If a child runs out from behind a parked car after a ball unexpectedly... well, yeah. Not that way in Moscow - they may get frustrated, but they don't expect pedestrians to be out of their way. Russia has a more collective mindset - we have an individualistic mindset. Everyone should get out of our way - there, they expect to be inconvenienced, so it's not the same source of stress for them.
Yeah, I rambled, but I bring up my husband's experiences there to show that here in the modern world, with modern languages, a literal rendering is not going to be enough, and even THAT is a feat. You have to factor culture. You have to factor societal norms. Otherwise you will not understand the text you are reading, as it communicates in it's context. You will be basically making up your own reality, concerning what it says - you would be applying YOUR culture, the text you read is filtered through YOUR experience, and any BIAS you may have about the culture, unless you actually learn the context.
