Is There Middle Ground?
Postmodern vs Modern? Does this have to be the case? Is there a middle ground somewhere? Are religious institutions and/or groups having a more difficult time dealing with this cultural shift than the secular aspects of life?
I honestly think that there can be and is a middle ground. There needs to be people and places that are transitional. I find this more coming from people than from institutions. I think that I might be one of those people. Is that arrogant to say? Probably but I know that I can see both points of view and am having postmodern tendencies within my modern mindset.
I volunteer at an elementary school (with children from the ages of 4 to 7) one day a week and it has truly opened my eyes to the postmodern era. They think differently than I did; they are learning some different things than I did - maybe that's not quite entirely true, they are learning the same things but learning them differently. There is no cookie cutter learning; there is some cookie cutter style, mainly because it's just a large group. But the teachers I'm with are using many different methods in teaching the same thing.
Anyway I grew up in a modern society (with twinges of postmodernity). There were black and whites, rights and wrongs, etc. I guess what I'm trying to express is that our way of thinking and looking at the world is changing. Children growing up now-a-days don't see all the black and white issues, they see and relate to each issue individually; each issue has it's own set of variables which is different from another situation, even if it is similar.
Hope my ramblings make sense to someone out there - and if they don't feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to explain them or maybe confuse you even more. ;-)
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emerging church, modern, postmodern
1 comment:
I think the whole essence of the Post-modern movement, in some respects, is middle ground and the room for different and varied experiences. So, I think the answer to you question has to be a resounding yes. As for what the “middle ground’ is and how it functions…that is really where the question is and where it begins.
We are living in transitional times and the earth is filled with moderns who still have and hold the balance of power, but they are being increasingly challenged by the post-moderns to re-look at things and adjust. Value systems are changing and the moderns don’t really know why. Along with that we also have to consider that parts of the world that have not even made it to “modern” yet. With the onset of “9-11” we have had to realize that they have a voice too and we are not sure we wanted to hear it. The problem is how do we respond to all these groups in a world that is shrinking in size as a result of increasingly limitless access?
The bi-product of all of this is the people who are transitional. Those who were raised in the between times. Those who were raised modern, but challenged and led the change. Those who were quick enough to see the change and embrace it. Those who are still trying to get on board. For you, this may mean exactly what you have said about yourself…you may be somewhere in the middle.
I think we have to recognize that we are in times of change and that Post-moderns are, on some levels, an embodiment of the rejection of the previous generations values which is not terribly dissimilar to any other generation that has come before them, but the difference is in their questioning of the premise of being able to process information and truth in the same way and define it by the same standards and tests. The process of reason that the moderns worked so hard and long to integrate into all of live and function is what the Post-moderns have tried to reject to a degree. The problem that this creates is that the two groups have a somewhat different way of arriving at a conclusion if in fact they do at all. Perhaps that’s where the transitional people have an incredibly critical role to play.
Are you up to the task?
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