Postmodernism and Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Postmodernism and Christianity - Essay Example Thesis Postmodernism odds with religion as it unveils realities of life, it is ironic and playful in contrast to dogmatic and strict religious rules. Postmodernism is defined as an artistic style emerged in opposition to "modern" traditions: it is more ornamental and ironic. With the rise of academic postmodernism and the growing influence of the political attitudes of the 1960s (both of which actually come after the post-war experimental avant-garde had established many new techniques in the arts), many artists became extraordinarily sensitive about their theoretical, and their political, position. Postmodernism odds with religion because religion rejects its main principles and rules. In this case, an idea of God which gives each of these two alternatives its due, while not succumbing to their temptations (Connor 92). Since the Bible speaks of God in symbols, part of biblical theology's contribution might be to elucidate the meaning of these symbols in our current cultural context. This is the hermeneutical task; to show what the Bible now means by what once it meant. Believers wish to share in the task of thinking towards an ad equate idea of God by undertaking an examination of the symbol "Father" as applied to God in the teaching of Jesus (Bataille and Hurley 43). The term ‘weak’ culture means that people differ in geographical location and in statistical terms. â€Å"Strong† culture means a desire of postmodern artists to make the world realistic. There is no such notion as truth. Postmodernist thought, in attacking the idea of a notional centre or dominant ideology, facilitated the promotion of a politics of difference. Under postmodern conditions, the ordered class politics preferred by socialists has given way to a far more diffuse and pluralistic identity politics, which often involves the self-conscious assertion of a marginalized identity against the dominant discourse (Connor 40). Much feminist thought therefore has in common with postmodernism that it attacks the legitimating metadiscourse used by males, designed to keep them in power, and it seeks an individual empowerment against this. This is the key to creativity in the individual. This evidence for the growth of an individual through the socialization process is neglected by 'social construction' theorists of the self (Bataille and Hurley 88). The cultural context of the father figure is lively and confused. The father and Jesus is the source of all morals and religion; every human being must work through his or her relationship to the father on the way to maturity. Religion and morals are merely ways in which the repressed memory of this deed finds expression. Thus the dead and repressed father, whose figure each one of us internalizes and thereby makes into a source of authority, is more powerful than the living one. However, the father may not be as central to our psychic life. He regards the vanishing of the father as the outcome of a long process, which can be traced in art and literature (Connor 39). Postmodernists critique foundational approaches to language and often attempt to reconceptualize objectivity rather than to reject it entirely or to replace it with subjectivity. Such reconceptualization