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September 16, 2001
[a reflective post] This is
[a reflective post] This is an article on intolerance and extremism, with the quotePepsi, he explained, wasn't American - it was made in Pakistan.. It made me thing of Jerry Fallwell's christian hatred. I don't think I believe in the notion of Muslim or Christian extremism. To tie it to a faith, faiths as beautiful at their core as these two is to perhaps take up, in part of the opposite extremism. In the course I'm teaching this year, I'm taking up Lyotard's challenge against meta-narrative, as it relates to the environment and the social construction of knowledge. Simply put, Lyotard situates the postmodern condition as a skepticism to all metanarratives (cosmologies, belief systems, world views) but perhaps less to banish them, but to remind us that we cannot even give respect to a belief that is unchallenged in our hearts and minds. Because if it is unchallenged, by reflection, prayer, inquiry, research, discussion, then perhaps we don't ever really know it, or ourselves. This article, like Fallwell's blaming of the boming on abortionist and queers (there's a link of Sarah's page) just reminds us of the horror of the unchallenged metanarrative, the unquestioned belief, and the dark humour when someone can drink pepsi and demand the destruction of american values. That's someone who'd certainly not be getting top marks in my class. Neither would Fallwell for his logic. Hmmm... simply put, extremism is the empowered stupid, not merely ignorant, or unworldly, or unlearned, as we all are that at some points in our lives/day/journey, and have much to learn from each other. The stupid are those who have decided that the act of learning is no longer necessary, and that they know what needs to be done. This is what makes this event so important to my teaching this year. I only hope I've stated it with relative clarity."
Posted by jason at September 16, 2001 08:49 AM