The End of Evil, re Science & Religion
Scott Holmes (sholmes@NETCOM.COM)
Sun, 8 Oct 1995 13:38:27 -0700
it's first review _The End of Evil_ by Adam Begley. The thesis of this
review is closely related to a number of threads on this list. The books
reviewed are: _The Death of Satan_ by Andrew Delbanco; _The Disappearance
of God_ by Richard Elliot Friedman; _Naming the Antichrist_ by Robert
Fuller; and, _The Origin of Satan_ by Elaine Pagels.
My interest is not so much on the pros and cons of particular religions
but more generally on the process of creating "Others", those that are
"our enemies". There are many points, in the review, worthy of consideration
and discussion on this list. But, what prompted me to break out of my long
period of lurking was the observation that post-modernism "... is a way of
thinking about the self that is incompatible with personal responsibility."
This statement, apparently, comes from Delbanco's book and is associated
with a rather scathing indictment of "...the radical relativism that robs
us of solid ground for making value judgments".
If these observations are true: then, what does that say about the utility
and/or value of "pomo" anthropological work? Is it possible to utilize
the concept of "Others" without resorting to scapegoating but still
allow for "Values"? It seems to me that defining "Others" is just one
example of the process of creating a context, delineating a boundary so
that something can be known. Naming a Thingee...
Observations, criticisms, flames ...
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