Christian Colleges Booming
Steve Dufour
By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
SAN DIEGO — A procession of good-looking, suntanned young men in
wet suits, surfboards in hand, heads to and from the beach all day
long.
They've got names like Jeremiah and Ben, and most are on the
surfing team of Point Loma Nazarene University. Their home base is the
beige dorm perched on a cliff on the western edge of the oceanside
campus.
Call them surfers for Jesus.
Not many years ago, Christian colleges like Point Loma had a
reputation for being little more than glorified Bible schools,
essentially dull training grounds for future missionaries and pastors.
They were places where guys' hair was kept short and girls' skirts
stayed long. Smoking, drinking, dancing and just about any kind of
high jinks earned a quick detention or a trip back home to Mom and
Dad.
Today, Christian colleges are outfitted with gleaming glass
buildings, modern science departments and, often, a more worldly joie
de vivre.
The surfers of Point Loma embody a secret in U.S. college
admissions: the growth industry in evangelical Protestant and
conservative Catholic schools.
"If people are going to spend money sending their kids to a
college, they want one with a mission," says Shirley Mullen, provost
at Westmont College, a high-end evangelical school in Santa Barbara,
Calif.
"Education is not value-free," she says. "Parents are a lot more
involved in where their kids go to college these days. They want
something wholesome, with role models."
And tradition-oriented Christian colleges and universities are
quietly booming. Catholics increasingly reject the liberalism of their
faith's powerhouse schools. Many of America's estimated 50 million
evangelical Christians find secular schools fail to nurture a
purpose-driven existence in their children.
Thus, enrollment for the 104 evangelical schools affiliated with
the Washington-based Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
(CCCU) shot up 47 percent during the 1990s, dwarfing the growth rate
of private and public colleges and universities, which grew 17 percent
and 4 percent, respectively.
Such growth reflects an enrollment surge being enjoyed by colleges
of all sorts as baby boomers' children mature. High school
graduations, at 2.5 million in 1996, will soar to 3.2 million in 2008
and then slowly drop off, according to the Western Interstate
Commission for Higher Education. But by that time, administrators of
conservative Christian colleges hope to come out on top in drawing
larger numbers of students.
The Washington Times visited Point Loma, Westmont and eight other
thriving Christian campuses to find out why they are faring better
proportionately than their secular counterparts.
Among the trends:
•Baby boomers converted during the "Jesus movement" and
charismatic renewal of the 1970s are insisting on a deeply Christian
college setting for their children.
•The increasing depravity and materialism of American culture make
values-laden colleges more attractive.
•Christian colleges have improved markedly in quality from the
days when they were known mainly as Bible schools and training
colleges for pastors, missionaries and church musicians. Many
evangelical professors with doctorates from secular universities are
heading for smaller Christian schools, where they believe they can
make a bigger impact.
Defying the stereotype
The education establishment stereotypes Christian colleges as
existing in a fairy-tale world devoid of campus health clinics that
distribute birth control and abortion referrals, staffed by
lower-paid, doctrinaire faculty. And, of course, it's the rare
Christian school that produces a respectable football team.
Liberal academics paint Christian institutions as the Rodney
Dangerfields of higher education, unwilling or unable to grapple with
issues such as feminist thought, homosexuality, Marxism and racism.
They denigrate rock-ribbed conservative schools associated in the
public mind with Christian colleges, among them Bob Jones University
in Greenville, S.C., Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg,
Va., and Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
New York University President John Sexton even dismisses religious
colleges as unsophisticated "gated communities."
"We at the macro level face an increasingly complex world," Mr.
Sexton says. "Some people seek the shelter of a simple answer. Our
[secular] universities are committed to the deep and nuanced study of
humanity. The more sophisticated you are, the more you tolerate
ambiguity."
Christian college administrators retort that their secular
counterparts not only deny absolute truth but are unwilling to
squarely address abortion, political correctness, pornography and
campus anti-Semitism.
Students enrolled at CCCU's "intentionally Christ-centered"
campuses total little more than 1 percent of the nation's 15.8 million
college students. Even so, administrators say they expect to make a
difference by producing graduates who run Wall Street corporations,
head top legal firms, staff respected hospitals, and enter public
service.
And today's Christian campus typically looks much like any liberal
arts college, complete with skateboarders, sunbathers and a nearby
Starbucks.
Westmont, the most expensive school under the CCCU umbrella, is
among those working to keep up with the more prestigious secular
institutions. One such investment there is the chemistry department's
300 MHz nuclear magnetic spectrometer. The device, which measures
wavelength and mass of energy particles, is an unusual purchase for
any private school.
Westmont faculty, many of whom attended or taught down the road at
the University of California at Santa Barbara, say theirs is the
better place to be.
"The secular schools leave out the spiritual dimension of the
student," says Associate Dean Heather Speirs, who attended UCSB as an
undergraduate. "We integrate faith and learning."
Staying on message
The growing Christian schools insist on codes, standards and
values. Faculty are expected to live and breathe mission and message.
When professors refuse, fireworks erupt.
East Texas Baptist University fired a professor of 18 years for
being too outspoken and willing "to challenge those in authority," the
Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
The American Association of University Professors criticized the
Baptist school for not first giving her a hearing. But East Texas
Baptist does not follow AAUP standards on tenure or academic freedom,
the school's vice president for academic affairs says.
Christian colleges vary on tenure and tolerating faculty dissent.
Nondenominational Wheaton College, just west of Chicago, in 2001 fired
a professor who gave little credence to God — as opposed to evolution
— as the creator of humanity. In 1997, Seattle Pacific University, a
Free Methodist school, refused tenure to an English professor who
wrote erotic poetry.
But pay, not academic freedom, is the chief complaint among
faculty at schools surveyed by The Times.
"In a Christian college, your salaries are less and you won't be
as notable as people in other institutions," says Ray McCormick, a
communications professor at Azusa Pacific University near Los Angeles.
"You don't get the research facilities you would like, but I can talk
about Christ anywhere."
In today's political climate, almost anything that is more
conservative than the prevailing culture will grow.
Southern Virginia University won full accreditation in May after
beginning in the fall of 1996 as a small Mormon college with 74
students in Buena Vista, Va. Six hundred students are enrolled this
fall, up 23 percent and 111 students from last year. The typical
yearly growth rate for college enrollment is 1 percent.
A whopping 1,114 prospective students applied for 250 openings in
this fall's freshman class at SVU. The university is in high demand
among students for whom there is no room at three Mormon alternatives:
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and BYU's Idaho and Hawaii
branch campuses. SVU plans to double capacity to 1,200.
Patrick Henry College, a new evangelical Protestant school in
Purcellville, Va., is growing just as fast by marketing itself
primarily to home-schooled young adults. Since 2000, Patrick Henry has
paid out $16 million for new buildings to accommodate the 244 students
enrolled this fall for its fourth academic year. Enrollment is up 23
percent, from 197.
Evolution, accreditation
Patrick Henry's views on evolution embroiled it in an
accreditation battle with the American Academy for Liberal Education,
a major accrediting agency.
AALE took exception to the requirement that all science faculty
teach a literal six-day creation based on the book of Genesis. It
refused to accredit Patrick Henry. The school appealed, earning
pre-accreditation status but not without agreeing also to explain
evolution.
Accreditation is a big issue for Christian colleges, determined as
they are to prove their scholarship is on par with secular campuses.
Colleges may apply to any one of several regional and national
accreditation groups.
Most science professors at other Christian colleges interviewed
about evolution by The Times said they taught some form of it. Some
advance a nuanced creationism, allowing God millions of years in which
to develop the Earth.
Wheaton College displays the skeleton of a mastodon in the science
department, and students are required to read the works of Carl Sagan,
the late astrophysicist and skeptic.
"I spend half my class time telling people Darwin was not an
idiot," says Jon Milhon, a biology professor at Azusa Pacific
University. "He was a thinking person."
The case for creation is presented, he adds, and faculty opinion
varies widely.
Administrators at these schools quiz incoming faculty on religious
beliefs and how they would integrate Christianity into their teaching.
Biola University, an evangelical school in La Mirada, Calif., is
among those requiring new faculty to sign a multipage statement
indicating assent or disagreement with key doctrines. A certain amount
of theological diversity on nonessentials generally is allowed.
Christian feminism
These colleges apply a Christian worldview when they take on
timely and tough social topics. Point Loma, for instance, offers a
minor in women's studies and a course called "Development of Feminist
Thought."
"We read many of the same texts as any feminist-thought course at
any university, engage them critically and ask directly how these
feminist ideas fit, or might not fit, with our Christian faith and
tradition," says Linda Beail, director of the women's studies center
at Point Loma. "We also read specifically Christian feminist texts
like Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen's 'Gender and Grace,' which deals with
issues like biblical interpretation of gender roles."
Thus, students have "a safety net" on a Christian campus that
allows some exploration, Point Loma French studies professor Hadley
Wood says.
"They learn a reasoned faith here that's a strong enough bark to
do some real traveling in the world," she says.
"Dry" dorms, small groups and one-on-one faculty mentoring — now
popular in mainstream academia — are well-established currency on the
Christian circuit, says Scott Shoemaker, dean of admissions for Point
Loma.
"Secular schools and private universities are talking about
character formation now," Mr. Shoemaker says, "whereas Christian
colleges have been doing that for decades."
Christian institutions rarely use teaching assistants, he says,
but "as an undergrad in the University of California system, you'd
hardly meet a faculty member."
Students are expected to devote large chunks of time to "ministry
hours." A student group at Azusa Pacific painted the fence at a local
mosque. Students at Wheaton tutor children from Chicago's South Side
ghettos. Students at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., assist the
elderly at Family House in a rough neighborhood of north Milwaukee.
In a way, Christian campuses hark back to a 1950s-style
wholesomeness: Someone who leaves a backpack untended outside the
cafeteria will find it there an hour later. Expectations of honesty
and restrictions on sexual activity are, in the main, heeded.
Thrice-weekly chapel attendance is mandatory.
"Other people I know who went to secular universities partied
their way for four years," says senior John Bylston, 22, a philosophy
major at Westmont. "They never figured out who they were, and no one
questioned them as to whether there is more to this life than getting
drunk every weekend."
Backlash to liberalism
Kate Whittaker, 22, a junior at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti,
Mich., recalls being part of a telethon for the 5-year-old
conservative Catholic school.
"People said they wanted to give to us," she says. "People would
say they were alumni of [University of] Notre Dame but they were
giving to us instead. Georgetown [University] was even more notorious.
They said their kids had lost their faith at a Catholic college, and
they didn't want that to happen again."
Administrators at evangelical colleges also say money that once
flowed to their liberal counterparts now comes their way.
"Those donors who are motivated to give by faith factors are going
to be more pleased with the conservative schools," CCCU President Bob
Andringa says. "Many of the 900 traditionally faith-based colleges are
putting less emphasis on it."
Cases in point: Baylor, Wake Forest and Furman universities, all
Southern Baptist institutions that distanced themselves from their
heritage. But brand loyalty is coming back in.
In recent years Baylor sought a return to its roots, thanks to
Robert Sloan, the school's president of seven years and former dean of
Truett Seminary, Baylor's theological school. Prospective faculty
members must voice a specific commitment to Christ and describe how
their faith influences their teaching.
Baylor retains several Jewish professors, but some instructors are
crying foul. Economics professor Kent Gilbreath told the Waco Tribune
that the school verged on "religious intolerance," and a former regent
calls the conservative tilt "a struggle for the soul of Baylor."
One Baptist-affiliated college that stayed true is Palm Beach
Atlantic University, which sent a dozen students over spring break to
evangelist Luis Palau's "Beach Fest" for 70,000 in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.
Throughout one particularly steamy Saturday, Palm Beach Atlantic
students kept their eyes peeled for the chance to chat with
nonbelievers.
"I know what God has done in my life, and I want to give others
that opportunity," says Rose Medina, a graduate student who is
proficient in Spanish and sign language. She ends up hanging out with
deaf beachgoers just behind the mosh pit.
Sophomore Mark Gantner strikes up a conversation with a Jehovah's
Witness and gives him a bound Gospel of John.
"He said he was dissatisfied with life," Mr. Gantner says later.
"Nothing was making him happy."
Julie Krebs, a junior majoring in psychology, reports an encounter
with two girls, Peaches and Pebbles.
Peaches "wondered why Jesus had to go to hell before going to
heaven," Miss Krebs says. "I cleared it up for her and said Jesus went
to hell [so that] we would not have to."
In loco parentis
These college students didn't come to scriptural knowledge through
Sunday school alone. Palm Beach Atlantic assigns all freshmen to a
course, "Principles of Biblical Faith," designed to ground them in
Christian doctrine. Once they choose a major, they must take a second
course on related ethics issues.
The campus in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., is several blocks of
cream-colored buildings, ubiquitous palm trees and — it must be said —
scantily clad Christian youth. It is a case study of the increasing
popularity of the approach dubbed "in loco parentis," in which the
college takes on the responsibility of parents.
This concept lost its appeal during the looser 1960s and 1970s,
but is accepted readily by today's Christian collegians. Born after
1982 and known as "millennials" or Gen Y, the generation tends to
respect authority, adore role models, eschew political correctness,
and show intense patriotism and interest in their heritage.
Moms and dads are so involved with where their offspring go to
school, where they will live and what they will be taught that
administrators refer to "helicopter parents" who tend to hover.
"Christian institutions are saying, 'We will partner with parents
to raise your kids,' " says Ken Mahanes, vice president for religious
life. "We see ourselves as having a much broader role than just giving
out information in the classroom."
Palm Beach Atlantic, founded in 1968 as the dream of the pastor of
First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, is growing far faster than
its ability to afford more buildings or land.
Housing is so short that juniors and seniors must move off campus,
some as far as a 30-minute drive away. To afford apartments and cars,
most hold down part-time jobs that cut into campus activities outside
class.
Faculty members must be able to describe how they became
Christians and how their teaching will be informed by their faith.
"Schools are tempted to relax this standard to have a better
athletic program or grad program," says Buck James, vice president for
enrollment. "But once you open the door [to non-Christian faculty], it
snowballs. Your faculty and staff have to be part of the mission of
the school."
Administrators make changes only after careful thought — and
prayer. Thus it was only this past spring that Point Loma changed the
name of its sports teams to Sea Lions, from the politically incorrect
Crusaders.
About 25 percent of Point Loma students belong to the Church of
the Nazarene, a conservative Protestant denomination based in Kansas
City. The rest come from nondenominational megachurches that crowd the
California landscape. About 5 percent to 8 percent will go on to
become Nazarene pastors.
Student body President Jeff Chesnut, 20, says Pepperdine
University offered him a full scholarship, but he was bothered by the
drunkenness of students he visited there. He had the same experience
at Fresno State.
Meredith Carroll, 19, a sophomore majoring in nursing, says she
too sought out a campus atmosphere that was not dissolute.
"I wanted to be somewhere where I could do something with my
friends during the weekend," she says, "and not get arrested for it."
Mark and Bev Tindall
> By Julia Duin
> THE WASHINGTON TIMES
> Liberal academics paint Christian institutions as the Rodney
> Dangerfields of higher education, unwilling or unable to grapple with
> issues such as feminist thought, homosexuality, Marxism and racism.
> They denigrate rock-ribbed conservative schools associated in the
> public mind with Christian colleges, among them Bob Jones University
> in Greenville, S.C., Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg,
> Va., and Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
All valid criticisms.
> New York University President John Sexton even dismisses religious
> colleges as unsophisticated "gated communities."
...much like homeschools ..a "gated community".
> "We at the macro level face an increasingly complex world," Mr.
> Sexton says. "Some people seek the shelter of a simple answer. Our
> [secular] universities are committed to the deep and nuanced study of
> humanity. The more sophisticated you are, the more you tolerate
> ambiguity."
Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. MNost Christians
have not understood post-modernism.
> East Texas Baptist University fired a professor of 18 years for
> being too outspoken and willing "to challenge those in authority," the
> Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
He should challenge ...that is his role as an educator.
> But East Texas
> Baptist does not follow AAUP standards on tenure or academic freedom,
Typical.
> Patrick Henry's views on evolution embroiled it in an
> accreditation battle with the American Academy for Liberal Education,
> a major accrediting agency.
> AALE took exception to the requirement that all science faculty
> teach a literal six-day creation based on the book of Genesis. It
> refused to accredit Patrick Henry.
GOOD!!! Quality control in action!
> Administrators at these schools quiz incoming faculty on religious
> beliefs and how they would integrate Christianity into their teaching.
This has always been the case in Christian schools in Australia.
> Moms and dads are so involved with where their offspring go to
> school, where they will live and what they will be taught that
> administrators refer to "helicopter parents" who tend to hover.
So much for the theory that only homeschooling parents cared about, and are
involved in, their kid's education.
> Faculty members must be able to describe how they became
> Christians and how their teaching will be informed by their faith.
One of the faults in Christian schooling is that this may take precedence
over all other considerations ...including quality of education.
Steve Dufour
> "Steve Dufour" wrote:
Thanks for your thoughts Mark and Bev.
>
> > By Julia Duin
> > THE WASHINGTON TIMES
>
> > Liberal academics paint Christian institutions as the Rodney
> > Dangerfields of higher education, unwilling or unable to grapple with
> > issues such as feminist thought, homosexuality, Marxism and racism.
> > They denigrate rock-ribbed conservative schools associated in the
> > public mind with Christian colleges, among them Bob Jones University
> > in Greenville, S.C., Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg,
> > Va., and Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
>
> All valid criticisms.
Are "liberal academics" grappling with feminist thought,
homosexuality, Marxism, and racism?
>
>
> > New York University President John Sexton even dismisses religious
> > colleges as unsophisticated "gated communities."
>
> ...much like homeschools ..a "gated community".
>
>
> > "We at the macro level face an increasingly complex world," Mr.
> > Sexton says. "Some people seek the shelter of a simple answer. Our
> > [secular] universities are committed to the deep and nuanced study of
> > humanity. The more sophisticated you are, the more you tolerate
> > ambiguity."
Do you really think Mr. Sexton tolerates ambiguity? I don't know him
myself so for all I know he might.
>
>
> Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. MNost Christians
> have not understood post-modernism.
Those sound like absolutist statements to me. :-)
>
> > East Texas Baptist University fired a professor of 18 years for
> > being too outspoken and willing "to challenge those in authority," the
> > Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
>
> He should challenge ...that is his role as an educator.
I agree!!!
>
>
> > But East Texas
> > Baptist does not follow AAUP standards on tenure or academic freedom,
>
> Typical.
Maybe they are challenging the authority of the AAUP. :-)
>
>
> > Patrick Henry's views on evolution embroiled it in an
> > accreditation battle with the American Academy for Liberal Education,
> > a major accrediting agency.
> > AALE took exception to the requirement that all science faculty
> > teach a literal six-day creation based on the book of Genesis. It
> > refused to accredit Patrick Henry.
>
> GOOD!!! Quality control in action!
But was ambiguity being tolerated?
>
>
> > Administrators at these schools quiz incoming faculty on religious
> > beliefs and how they would integrate Christianity into their teaching.
>
> This has always been the case in Christian schools in Australia.
Makes sense to me.
>
>
> > Moms and dads are so involved with where their offspring go to
> > school, where they will live and what they will be taught that
> > administrators refer to "helicopter parents" who tend to hover.
>
> So much for the theory that only homeschooling parents cared about, and are
> involved in, their kid's education.
They might have been homeschooling parents.
>
>
> > Faculty members must be able to describe how they became
> > Christians and how their teaching will be informed by their faith.
>
>
> One of the faults in Christian schooling is that this may take precedence
> over all other considerations ...including quality of education.
I agree with you. This is something to be watched out for.
Mark and Bev Tindall
> Are "liberal academics" grappling with feminist thought,
> homosexuality, Marxism, and racism?
Most definitely, yes!
> > > "We at the macro level face an increasingly complex world," Mr.
> > > Sexton says. "Some people seek the shelter of a simple answer. Our
> > > [secular] universities are committed to the deep and nuanced study of
> > > humanity. The more sophisticated you are, the more you tolerate
> > > ambiguity."
>
> Do you really think Mr. Sexton tolerates ambiguity? I don't know him
> myself so for all I know he might.
I have no idea since I don't know him ... but the idea is worthy. One of
the problems with the rise of both conservatism and fundamentalism is black
& white thinking without shades of grey.
> > Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. Most
Christians
> > have not understood post-modernism.
>
> Those sound like absolutist statements to me. :-)
I would think that my use of "needs" and "most" wouldbe contrary to an
absolutist viewpoint.
> > > Patrick Henry's views on evolution embroiled it in an
> > > accreditation battle with the American Academy for Liberal Education,
> > > a major accrediting agency.
> > > AALE took exception to the requirement that all science faculty
> > > teach a literal six-day creation based on the book of Genesis. It
> > > refused to accredit Patrick Henry.
> >
> > GOOD!!! Quality control in action!
>
> But was ambiguity being tolerated?
The rest of the article follows that they can teach BOTH creationism and
evolution. I think that is a fair compromise.
> > > Administrators at these schools quiz incoming faculty on religious
> > > beliefs and how they would integrate Christianity into their teaching.
> >
> > This has always been the case in Christian schools in Australia.
>
> Makes sense to me.
In a similar way the Jewish schools prefer Jews, and the Moslem schools
prefer Moslems.
> > > Moms and dads are so involved with where their offspring go to
> > > school, where they will live and what they will be taught that
> > > administrators refer to "helicopter parents" who tend to hover.
> >
> > So much for the theory that only homeschooling parents cared about, and
are
> > involved in, their kid's education.
>
> They might have been homeschooling parents.
Maybe ...the article doesn't state so. There is a section of Christian
school parents that have dabbled in homeschooling. I do not think they are
a majority.
> > > Faculty members must be able to describe how they became
> > > Christians and how their teaching will be informed by their faith.
> > One of the faults in Christian schooling is that this may take
precedence
> > over all other considerations ...including quality of education.
>
> I agree with you. This is something to be watched out for.
Look first for quality education and lastly for the religious views (if any)
of the teacher.
Steve Dufour
> Christians
> > > have not understood post-modernism.
Thanks again for your thoughts. I was wondering just what you mean by
"post-modern".
Mark and Bev Tindall
Literally "after modernism". A good introduction at
http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
It is of utmost importance to Christians working in the arts and
communication fields.
This is part of that link ......
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas, one that has only
emerged as an area of academic study since the mid-1980s. Postmodernism is
hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of
disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film,
literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's hard to
locate it temporally or historically, because it's not clear exactly when
postmodernism begins.
...snip ....
Postmodernism, like modernism, follows most of these same ideas, rejecting
boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre
distinctions, emphasizing pastiche, parody, bricolage, irony, and
playfulness. Postmodern art (and thought) favors reflexivity and
self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative
structures), ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured,
decentered, dehumanized subject.
But--while postmodernism seems very much like modernism in these ways, it
differs from modernism in its attitude toward a lot of these trends.
Modernism, for example, tends to present a fragmented view of human
subjectivity and history (think of The Wasteland, for instance, or of
Woolf's To the Lighthouse), but presents that fragmentation as something
tragic, something to be lamented and mourned as a loss. Many modernist works
try to uphold the idea that works of art can provide the unity, coherence,
and meaning which has been lost in most of modern life; art will do what
other human institutions fail to do. Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't
lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather
celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can
make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense.
....snip ......
Postmodernism, in rejecting grand narratives, favors "mini-narratives,"
stories that explain small practices, local events, rather than large-scale
universal or global concepts. Postmodern "mini-narratives" are always
situational, provisional, contingent, and temporary, making no claim to
universality, truth, reason, or stability.
...snip ..........
Finally, postmodernism is concerned with questions of the organization of
knowledge. In modern societies, knowledge was equated with science, and was
contrasted to narrative; science was good knowledge, and narrative was bad,
primitive, irrational (and thus associated with women, children, primitives,
and insane people). Knowledge, however, was good for its own sake; one
gained knowledge, via education, in order to be knowledgeable in general, to
become an educated person. This is the ideal of the liberal arts education.
In a postmodern society, however, knowledge becomes functional--you learn
things, not to know them, but to use that knowledge. As Sarup points out (p.
138), educational policy today puts emphasis on skills and training, rather
than on a vague humanist ideal of education in general. This is particularly
acute for English majors. "What will you DO with your degree?"
Not only is knowledge in postmodern societies characterized by its utility,
but knowledge is also distributed, stored, and arranged differently in
postmodern societies than in modern ones. Specifically, the advent of
electronic computer technologies has revolutionized the modes of knowledge
production, distribution, and consumption in our society (indeed, some might
argue that postmodernism is best described by, and correlated with, the
emergence of computer technology, starting in the 1960s, as the dominant
force in all aspects of social life). In postmodern societies, anything
which is not able to be translated into a form recognizable and storable by
a computer--i.e. anything that's not digitizable--will cease to be
knowledge. In this paradigm, the opposite of "knowledge" is not "ignorance,"
as it is the modern/humanist paradigm, but rather "noise." Anything that
doesn't qualify as a kind of knowledge is "noise," is something that is not
recognizable as anything within this system.
......snip ....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
All materials on this site are written by, and remain the propery of, Dr.
Mary Klages, Associate Professor, English Department, University of
Colorado, Boulder. You are welcome to quote from this essay, or to link this
page to your own site, with proper attribution. For more information, see
Citing Electronic Sources.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The Flax article referred to is Jane Flax, "Postmodernism and Gender
Relations in Feminist Theory," in Linda J. Nicholson, ed.,
Feminism/Postmodernism, Routledge, 1990.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The Sarup article referred to is Chapter 6, "Lyotard and Postmodernism," in
Madan Sarup's An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism,
University of Georgia Press, 1993.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Last revision: April 21, 2003
For comments, send mail to Professor Mary Klages
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Steve Dufour
> Christians
> > > > > have not understood post-modernism.
> >
> > Thanks again for your thoughts. I was wondering just what you mean by
> > "post-modern".
>
>
> Literally "after modernism". A good introduction at
> http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
Thanks. Interesting stuff.
Eric Richardson
<m_b_t...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
> "Steve Dufour" wrote:
>
> > > > > Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. Most
> > > Christians
> > > > > have not understood post-modernism.
> >
> > Thanks again for your thoughts. I was wondering just what you mean by
> > "post-modern".
>
>
> Literally "after modernism". A good introduction at
> http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
>
> It is of utmost importance to Christians working in the arts and
> communication fields.
Why?
>
> This is part of that link ......
>
> Postmodernism
>
> Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas, one that has only
> emerged as an area of academic study since the mid-1980s. Postmodernism is
> hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of
> disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film,
> literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's hard to
> locate it temporally or historically, because it's not clear exactly when
> postmodernism begins.
>
> ...snip ....
>
> Postmodernism, like modernism, follows most of these same ideas, rejecting
> boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre
> distinctions,
So, Christians should recognize that there should be no distinction
between watching say, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and some stage show
with people eating feces while hanging from the rafters with large
hooks through there nipples while other people carve designs in their
bodies?
> emphasizing pastiche, parody, bricolage, irony, and
> playfulness. Postmodern art (and thought) favors reflexivity and
> self-consciousness,
Yes, the post modern Christian should understand that there is no
difference in value between the Mona Lisa and the Piss Christ. Right?
> fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative
> structures), ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured,
> decentered, dehumanized subject.
Ohhh, there is a goal we should all aim for, to be able to promote lack
of structure and centering on value, and most importantly to emphasize
our dehumanization.
>
>
> But--while postmodernism seems very much like modernism in these ways, it
> differs from modernism in its attitude toward a lot of these trends.
> Modernism, for example, tends to present a fragmented view of human
> subjectivity and history (think of The Wasteland, for instance, or of
> Woolf's To the Lighthouse), but presents that fragmentation as something
> tragic, something to be lamented and mourned as a loss. Many modernist works
> try to uphold the idea that works of art can provide the unity, coherence,
> and meaning which has been lost in most of modern life; art will do what
> other human institutions fail to do. Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't
> lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather
> celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can
> make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense.
>
Art should transcend daily experience to take us to a higher level of
the sublime.
Playing with nonsense is self-indulgent, egoistic masturbation.
>
> ....snip ......
>
> Postmodernism, in rejecting grand narratives, favors "mini-narratives,"
> stories that explain small practices, local events, rather than large-scale
> universal or global concepts. Postmodern "mini-narratives" are always
> situational, provisional, contingent, and temporary, making no claim to
> universality, truth, reason, or stability.
>
>
> ...snip ..........
>
> Finally, postmodernism is concerned with questions of the organization of
> knowledge. In modern societies, knowledge was equated with science, and was
> contrasted to narrative; science was good knowledge, and narrative was bad,
> primitive, irrational (and thus associated with women, children, primitives,
> and insane people). Knowledge, however, was good for its own sake; one
> gained knowledge, via education, in order to be knowledgeable in general, to
> become an educated person. This is the ideal of the liberal arts education.
And society is much poorer in general for having a large number of
supposedly educated people having little grounding in philosophy,
history, economics, geography, religion and culture.
> In a postmodern society, however, knowledge becomes functional--you learn
> things, not to know them, but to use that knowledge. As Sarup points out (p.
> 138), educational policy today puts emphasis on skills and training, rather
> than on a vague humanist ideal of education in general. This is particularly
> acute for English majors. "What will you DO with your degree?"
>
>
> Not only is knowledge in postmodern societies characterized by its utility,
> but knowledge is also distributed, stored, and arranged differently in
> postmodern societies than in modern ones. Specifically, the advent of
> electronic computer technologies has revolutionized the modes of knowledge
> production, distribution, and consumption in our society (indeed, some might
> argue that postmodernism is best described by, and correlated with, the
> emergence of computer technology, starting in the 1960s, as the dominant
> force in all aspects of social life). In postmodern societies, anything
> which is not able to be translated into a form recognizable and storable by
> a computer--i.e. anything that's not digitizable--will cease to be
> knowledge. In this paradigm, the opposite of "knowledge" is not "ignorance,"
> as it is the modern/humanist paradigm, but rather "noise." Anything that
> doesn't qualify as a kind of knowledge is "noise,"
Exactly what I find to be true of much of 'post-modern' thinking.
Mark and Bev Tindall
**************
Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. Most
Christians have not understood post-modernism.
**********
> > It is of utmost importance to Christians working in the arts and
> > communication fields.
>
> Why?
So you can intelligently understand the culture in which you live and
communicate with your art or message. Jesus said to love God with ALL YOUR
MIND. Paul understood his culture and used it to his advantage in Acts 17.
> So, Christians should recognize that there should be no distinction
> between watching say, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and some stage show
> with people eating feces while hanging from the rafters with large
> hooks through there nipples while other people carve designs in their
> bodies?
No ...you misunderstand. The link is DESCRIBING what post-modernism is. It
is not advocating that you follow it. It is also NOT my article! I quote:
*******************************
> > All materials on this site are written by, and remain the propery of,
Dr.
> > Mary Klages, Associate Professor, English Department, University of
> > Colorado, Boulder. You are welcome to quote from this essay, or to link
this
********************************
> Yes, the post modern Christian should understand that there is no
> difference in value between the Mona Lisa and the Piss Christ. Right?
The Christian living in today's post-modern culture should understand the
culture in which they live and how post-modernists think. Studying a
particular philosophy does not mean that you have to agree with it.
> Ohhh, there is a goal we should all aim for, to be able to promote lack
> of structure and centering on value, and most importantly to emphasize
> our dehumanization.
No ...that is what post-modernists aim for not Christians. You have
misunderstood the reason for the text.
> Art should transcend daily experience to take us to a higher level of
> the sublime.
Art may also upset and be ugly ...just like the Chreistian painter
Rembrandt's "Side of Beef" or "The Blinding of Samson". You need to read
more in the philosophy pof art - aesthetics. Try
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Philosophy/?tc=1
> Playing with nonsense is self-indulgent, egoistic masturbation.
I couldn't help playing with your nonsense and trying to help others out of
your confused thinking.
> And society is much poorer in general for having a large number of
> supposedly educated people having little grounding in philosophy
I totally agree ...that's why one of my undergraduate degrees is in
philosophy.
Eric Richardson
are married, then of course in a sense it is, actually a holy trinity)?
So, if you don't believe in post-modernism, then what is it that you
believe in? Do you believe yourself Christian?
In article <3f610609$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, Mark and Bev Tindall
<m_b_t...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
So, again, what is it that you do believe in? Do you really find it
necessary that we understand the decentralization and dehumanization of
culture that is sought by a relatively small and effete band of
ineffective intellectuals? Most people that have explained to them or
even just given examples of what kind of activities these folks pursue
rejects it outright.
I think our time would be better spent understanding what God's
historical culture really is, and promoting and educating for that
rather than spending any great deal of time understanding a
"post-modern culture" that has relatively little power, especially not
any lasting power.
>
>
> > Yes, the post modern Christian should understand that there is no
> > difference in value between the Mona Lisa and the Piss Christ. Right?
>
> The Christian living in today's post-modern culture should understand the
> culture in which they live and how post-modernists think. Studying a
> particular philosophy does not mean that you have to agree with it.
Really understanding the philosophy of God, which people are
predisposed to accept, brings a great deal of authority.
>
>
> > Ohhh, there is a goal we should all aim for, to be able to promote lack
> > of structure and centering on value, and most importantly to emphasize
> > our dehumanization.
>
> No ...that is what post-modernists aim for not Christians. You have
> misunderstood the reason for the text.
>
>
> > Art should transcend daily experience to take us to a higher level of
> > the sublime.
>
> Art may also upset and be ugly ...just like the Chreistian painter
> Rembrandt's "Side of Beef" or "The Blinding of Samson". You need to read
> more in the philosophy pof art - aesthetics. Try
>
> http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Philosophy/?tc=1
Okay. Perhaps you might suggest something more pointedly making the
case that you wish to make concerning art?
Here are some references to specific thought on art that express
something from my point of view:
http://tparents.org/unews/unws0007/santelli%5Fart.htm
http://tparents.org/library/unification/books/euth/euth07%2D01.htm
http://tparents.org/library/unification/books/utsg/UTSG-1-7.htm
http://www.unification.net/cuth/cuth-11.html
http://tparents.org/library/unification/books/euth/euth07%2D06.htm
>
>
> > Playing with nonsense is self-indulgent, egoistic masturbation.
>
> I couldn't help playing with your nonsense and trying to help others out of
> your confused thinking.
>
>
> > And society is much poorer in general for having a large number of
> > supposedly educated people having little grounding in philosophy
>
> I totally agree ...that's why one of my undergraduate degrees is in
> philosophy.
>
Hmm, what about all the other fields I mentioned?
Narrow study of philosophy can also leave one supposedly educated, but
ignorant about much of life and human culture.
Steve Dufour
> "Eric Richardson" wrote:
>
> **************
> Ambiguity needs to be tolerated in a post-modern culture. Most
> Christians have not understood post-modernism.
> **********
>
> > > It is of utmost importance to Christians working in the arts and
> > > communication fields.
> >
> > Why?
>
>
> So you can intelligently understand the culture in which you live and
> communicate with your art or message. Jesus said to love God with ALL YOUR
> MIND. Paul understood his culture and used it to his advantage in Acts 17.
Thanks for making your point of view more clear.
Mark and Bev Tindall
> Is it Mark or Bev that I am talking to?
Mark
> Or is it a holy duality
That too. :-)
>(if you are married, then of course in a sense it is, actually a holy
trinity)?
Correct.
> So, if you don't believe in post-modernism, then what is it that you
> believe in?
God, truth and love.
> Do you believe yourself Christian?
Yes.
> So, again, what is it that you do believe in?
Many things that are worthy.
> Do you really find it
> necessary that we understand the decentralization and dehumanization of
> culture
Yes!
> that is sought by a relatively small and effete band of
> ineffective intellectuals?
It may be defined by these people but is happening en masse.
> I think our time would be better spent understanding what God's
> historical culture really is, and promoting and educating for that
> rather than spending any great deal of time understanding a
> "post-modern culture" that has relatively little power, especially not
> any lasting power.
Both are required ...just like Paul in the bible at Acts 17.
> > The Christian living in today's post-modern culture should understand
the
> > culture in which they live and how post-modernists think. Studying a
> > particular philosophy does not mean that you have to agree with it.
>
> Really understanding the philosophy of God, which people are
> predisposed to accept, brings a great deal of authority.
I don't think they are predisposed to it ...nor do I think humans are
capable of knowing the mind of God in all things.
> Okay. Perhaps you might suggest something more pointedly making the
> case that you wish to make concerning art?
Art is the creation of humans that exp[resses their thought and feeling
about the world in which they live. It is to be judged by content ...but
also technical excellence.
I notice you are from Moon's Unification Church.
> Hmm, what about all the other fields I mentioned?
>
> Narrow study of philosophy can also leave one supposedly educated, but
> ignorant about much of life and human culture.
True ... I have seen much of the world in all ways possible in my 50 years
on this planet. I am professional educator that has taught K-12 & adults
and been involved in the arts within the community.
cameron
> So, Christians should recognize that there should be no distinction
> between watching say, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and some stage show
> with people eating feces while hanging from the rafters with large
> hooks through there nipples while other people carve designs in their
> bodies?
We defend the rights of anyone to sample the excrement of another,
including Moon man and his wifey.
> Yes, the post modern Christian should understand that there is no
> difference in value between the Mona Lisa and the Piss Christ. Right?
Only in resale value.
> Ohhh, there is a goal we should all aim for, to be able to promote lack
> of structure and centering on value, and most importantly to emphasize
> our dehumanization.
Yes, by exhorting the faithful with spiritworld messages to donate
more money to prop up armament factories.
> Playing with nonsense is self-indulgent, egoistic masturbation.
You would know, Eric.