People Who are Stupid May Not Use the Word Postmodern

It's time to pick on Baptist Press again. This week they posted a story about the tenth anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. Now call me crazy, but I hardly think Southern Baptists are the best critics of Nirvana. They might speak intelligently about The Cathedrals or even Stephen Curtis Chapman, but Nirvana?

Someone named Kelly Boggs wrote the story. He or she has some scintillating insights. Here's one that seems completely pointless:

I find it ironic that Cobain took his life so near Easter, which fell on April 3 ten years ago. In fact, the time of his actual death may have been only a couple of days removed from Christianity’s most significant celebration.

Ironic? Yeah, cause Cobain had a copy of the church calendar in his garage. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the circumstances in his life around March or April of that year. It was a liturgical thing.

But wait, Kelly has an explanation:

The resurrection of Christ and the hope it engenders stands in stark contrast with the pessimism postmodern philosophy produces. And make no mistake -- Cobain embodied the worst of postmodern thought.

Yeah, postmodern philosophy produces pessimism. Is it possible that modern philosophy produces pessimism and postmodern philosophy is the embodiment of that pessimism? That seems more likely to me. After all, the utopian idealism and naivete of modern philosophy produced world wars and concentration camps and genocide, not to mention Josh McDowell, Bill Hybels, and Benny Hinn.

Here's my favorite though:

Postmodern philosophy holds that absolute truth does not exist. Morality is relative and self-styled. Meaning is self-constructed. Individual experience becomes the ultimate in self-actualization.

For the last damn time, postmodern philosophy does not disbelieve in absolute truth. First of all, postmodern philosophy is not a univocal movement. There are many different branches of postmodern philosophy, the most famous of which is probably the Continental stream of Derrida and Foucault. Second, the postmodern philosophy that I've read is skeptical of our ability to know absolute truth with certainty, a point I tend to agree with heartily. That's a far cry from believing absolute truth does not exist. Third, and last, if you read Chuck Colson books or listen to the Bible Answer Man on radio, you ought to be forbidden to even use the word postmodern. If you've derived your definition from those two paragons of evangelical ignorance, or from anyone like them, then you also ought to be forbidden to use the word because you really don't understand what it means. Here's a test. If you believe postmodernism equals relativism, then you fall into the category mentioned in the title of this post, and you'll make a dandy evangelical. (Until someone reads at least one primary text, they ought to shut the hell up.)

Thanks again to Baptist Press for oversimplifying, missing the point, and creating a straw man to defeat. Leave Nirvana alone. Stick to critiquing Tree 63 or Michael W. "Kermit the Frog" Smith.

Comments

[Dino Zaragoza]

I'm not sure that most people who use the term postmodern (at least in Baptist circles) even know who Derrida or Foucault are.

[greg]

Dino,

I'm sure you're right. Nor would they know about Rorty or Quine or a myriad of other names. Unfortunately, they have heard of Chuck Colson and Hank Hanegraaf. I'd settle for them reading a little Brian McLaren or Tony Jones.

[Robert Davis]

Does listening to Mr. Hanegraaf for laughs exclude me?

[greg]

Robert,

I listen to him for laughs too. And sometimes just to get pissed off. I should stop doing that. My wife already wants me to take Vitamin E so I won't be a "cranky old man." Too late.

[Robert Davis]

Hey, I have that disease too! And, I'm only 23...