Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 11:49:31 -0400
Subject: Re: Tantalizing times - arguing for atheism....


Don,

There's been much discussion of religion on the history of ideas list at
this address:


H-IDEAS-AT-H-NET.MSU.EDU <H-IDEAS-AT-H-NET.MSU.EDU>



> << I believe that what you are describing is the result of the crisis of
the
>  grand-narrative, the great story of the dominant religions, which is so
much
>  a part of the Lyotard lists discourse. The supposed crisis in religion is
in
>  fact the 'death', or perhaps more accurately the proliferation of many
>  micro-discourses, from dominant theisms to multiple trivial local ones.
>>
>
> Steve, you make a good point but why isn't there more written about
religion
> by postmodern philosophers?  Admittedly, most of my reading in
postmodernism
> is from secondary sources but I don't recall having read any specific
> criticisms of religion anywhere. Granted that Lyotard's identification of
the
> postmodern incredulity toward metanarratives in the PC implies that god is
> dead but have any contemporary PM philosophers elaborated on the demise of
> religion?
>
> I have read papers from theologians and right wing religious nuts
criticizing
> PM, and I have even read a couple of Christian papers praising
postmodernism
> for its critique of rationality but I just haven't seen any interesting
> writings from the postmodernists specifically addressing religion.
>
> I have sometimes wondered how Lyotard justified his position that
societies
> are moving away from totalizing concepts given the popularity of
> fundamentalism and the fact that a very high percentage of people in the
West
> declare themselves Christians at least in surveys. Even if there are as
you
> say, a proliferation of micro discourses wouldn't they still be based on
> universalizing principles?
>
> Don
>
>