Whaddup peeps! So, the discussions in class this week were quite interesting. One thing I was interested in talking about was myths. Whenever you think of a myth, you refer to old Greek or other ancient times, like the myth mentioned in Postmodernism For Beginners "Here is the myth of Bumba, vomiting the Moon and Stars" (25). But, what I did not know before is that myths are even used today, but in a different form. Instead of calling them myths, Lyotard refers to them as Narratives, which give purpose and reason to everything we do.
When speaking of a narrative there is a thing referred to by Lyotard as a Grand Narrative. Lyotard defines a grand narrative as "big stories... that claim o be able to account for, explain and subordinate all lesser, little, local narratives" (29). An example that Lyotard uses for a grand narrative is "the narrative of Christian salvation" (29). Grand Narratives are so big that by our time, right now, many of them are hard to believe. Many things have been discovered that contradict grand narratives. Because of these contradictions the postmodern condition of religion, and extreme myths is in decline.
Grand narratives aren't necessarily a good thing because they are biased by those who create the narratives. Many cultures have been oppressed by grand narratives, like Native Americans by the WASP grand narrative that it was their destiny to expand westward. By this they marginalize the personal individuality and cultural individuality of many peoples because of any shows of weakness. African Americans, Native Americans, Armenians, Jews, Hispanics, all of these and many more have been marginalized by the grand narratives created by people who can't keep the narratives up, which is why they eventually fell, and now most of these cultures are not oppressed any longer.
In many ways, Postmodernism explains how the society in Brave New World came to be such an oppressive world. Postmodernism can suck all of the narratives from the world so that the only one left is: constant scientific research will lead to the obtainment of absolute knowledge. When all there is left in a society is constant scientific research many narratives like the American Dream will go away, and our society will be like the one in BNW, completely singular and clone-ish.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Unasked Question
What is postmodernism? Well this last week, I began to understand what that phrase meant, how it connected to the books we were reading, and where we were headed in this class. Postmodernism is a great representation of how our world is progressing and evolving. The Modern Era was also known as the Age of Reason, because that is when scientists and theorists really began to dig in and try to make sense of the world around them. Postmodernism is, in a sense, the same thing. Postmodernism is the attempt to make sense of the world we live in now, only we are now much more knowledgable about the physical world around us. Around 1970 things began to change, and postmodernists are digging into what has changed in an attempt to make sense of this new era.
Some assets of this new era are acknowledging the multiculturalism of our world, accepting the different races of people who live in the U.S., and recognize every individuals' freedom of choice. Unfortunately, not everyone has an open mind. Some such people are trying to manipulate the school system in Texas so that they can influence their students' beliefs, and sway them toward Christianity through history class.
As it was argued, not really discussed, in class, our country was seeded by Christians. Our country began with their virtues and beliefs, but from those it has grown and expanded to include other cultures, beliefs, and virtues. American history may have began with Christian leadership, but those leaders did not always lead by their Christian beliefs, and so had negative effects on our country. The same pattern continued after our country began to grow, many Christian leaders thought of themselves first and so did not keep to our pure Christian roots. Also, other cultures were already mixed in, like the Native American culture, and some were brought in along the way, like the Hispanics from Mexico,and the Scots-Irish from the U.K.
The Christians in Texas want U.S. History classes to focus on the Christian involvement in U.S. History, and to represent Christianity as an overall source of goodness. But if their involvement has not always been pure, and if there has been significant influence on our country by other cultures, why should history classes only focus on the Christian influences in U.S. History? That is the question I wanted to ask.
I believe that religion should be left out of school as much as possible. Since it can not be taken out of History classes, it should not be biased toward one religion or another. The values and beliefs and such of a religion should be taught at home. If parents want their children to be Christians, then they should teach their children. But no one religion should sway what students learn in any history class, especially our country's own history.
Some assets of this new era are acknowledging the multiculturalism of our world, accepting the different races of people who live in the U.S., and recognize every individuals' freedom of choice. Unfortunately, not everyone has an open mind. Some such people are trying to manipulate the school system in Texas so that they can influence their students' beliefs, and sway them toward Christianity through history class.
As it was argued, not really discussed, in class, our country was seeded by Christians. Our country began with their virtues and beliefs, but from those it has grown and expanded to include other cultures, beliefs, and virtues. American history may have began with Christian leadership, but those leaders did not always lead by their Christian beliefs, and so had negative effects on our country. The same pattern continued after our country began to grow, many Christian leaders thought of themselves first and so did not keep to our pure Christian roots. Also, other cultures were already mixed in, like the Native American culture, and some were brought in along the way, like the Hispanics from Mexico,and the Scots-Irish from the U.K.
The Christians in Texas want U.S. History classes to focus on the Christian involvement in U.S. History, and to represent Christianity as an overall source of goodness. But if their involvement has not always been pure, and if there has been significant influence on our country by other cultures, why should history classes only focus on the Christian influences in U.S. History? That is the question I wanted to ask.
I believe that religion should be left out of school as much as possible. Since it can not be taken out of History classes, it should not be biased toward one religion or another. The values and beliefs and such of a religion should be taught at home. If parents want their children to be Christians, then they should teach their children. But no one religion should sway what students learn in any history class, especially our country's own history.
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