[Oe List ...] Salmon: Paper on Postmodernism

[Jim Wheeler]

Thanks for sharing this, Bill.

Grace and peace,

Jim Wheeler

On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 9:46 AM, William Salmon <wsalmon at cox.net> wrote:

> **********************************
> Colleagues--
>     This is a paper I wrote for continuing education credit to support my
> work as a Para-Educator at the Salina Central High School. Previously, this
> material was lost in the OE system.
> Bill
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* William Salmon <wsalmon at cox.net>
> *To:* oe-owner at wedgeblade.net
> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 12, 2012 8:13 PM
> *Subject:* Salmon: Paper on Postmodernism
>
>  *THE COLLAPSE OF OUR MODERN TIMES *
>
> ***AND**** THE BIRTH OF THE INTUITIVE GENERATION*
>
> ** **
>
> Do you remember this Bob Dylan song:****
>
>                                                                 Come
> gather 'round people
> Wherever you roam
> And admit that the waters
> Around you have grown
> And accept it that soon
> You'll be drenched to the bone.
> If your time to you
> Is worth savin'
> Then you better start swimmin'
> Or you'll sink like a stone
> For the times they are a-changin'.****
>
> This song, “. . . is one of Dylan's most famous; many felt that it
> captured the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the
> 1960s.”**[1]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn1>
>
> ** **
>
> *The Birth of the Intuitive Generation*
>
> * *
>
> *            **The changed times--*
>
>             I can guarantee you that those born after 1985 will not
> remember it. Of course, they can’t remember much of what those of us born
> before 1985 can remember. Every day, our students stand to say, “We Pledge
> Allegiance. . . .one nation under God. . . ” It is not likely our youth
> remember that this religious phrase was added in 1953 under the
> presidential request of Dwight D. Eisenhower. In fact, it is doubtful that
> our student bodies understand the term “God.” The majority of our students
> do not attend church nor do their parents of whom most are born around the
> year 1985.**[2]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn2>
>
> ** **
>
>             It now can be affirmed that these changing times are no
> longer changing, they have changed! So, what happened? In looking back over
> filed materials that I have written, it was around 1985 that I began to
> note the changing times. Interestingly, the formula I worked at the
> beginning of my studies is the same that I use today:
>
>    - The Modern Era Worldview was born during the 15th to the 17thCenturies;
>    - The Postmodern Era Worldview was born in 1917 when Einstein wrote
>    down the Theory of Relativity—E=MC2.
>
> ** **
>
>             Some sociology scholars affirm that about every 500 years a
> societal death and rebirth takes place. The Middle Ages, (a.k.a: the Dark
> Ages—5th to the 15th Centuries) were fully established by the year 1,000
> C.E., and were finished by the start of the Modern Era during the 15th to
> the 17th centuries. Look at the tremendous energy that came into being at
> this time: Galileo, Copernicus and solidified by the Scientific Method of
> Newtonian physics. From this base we experience the Reformation, the
> Gutenberg printing press, the Renaissance, Industrialization and
> Urbanization. These were exceptionally fruitful years and lasted a little
> more than 500 years.
>
> ** **
>
>             *Re-wiring the Intuitive Generation--*
>
>             This new generation I characterize as The Intuitive
> Generation. The Theory of Relativity is the metaphor of this newness; among
> many other things, today’s physics intuits the Big Bang, an ever-expanding
> universe, and a cosmos that exists outside of our own galaxy. The new
> physics helps to explain a mega-and a micro-universe; one without and one
> within. This is a paradigm shift of cosmic proportions; the universe itself
> now is explained by Quantum Mechanics that posits an ever-expanding
> universe in which Earth is but an insignificant dot in one of the
> mega-billions of other universes.
>
> ** **
>
> The Death Spiral of these modern times began with the globality of World
> War I, to be followed by The Great Depression, a second World War that
> ended with the birth of the Nuclear Age conceived by Einstein’s formula.
> Einstein wrote this formula in 1909, but it was not published until after
> the Great War in 1917. The death of the Modern Era was orchestrated through
> the formula E=MC2. The Atomic Era was an earth-shattering event and gave
> birth to the Postmodern Age now 100 years old.
>
> * *
>
> *The Journey to the shift--*
>
>             Observe what transpired prior to 1985. The War Babies of 1943
> came to their majority around 1960 and gave birth to the Baby Boomers who
> reached young adulthood in 1985. In their turn, they gave birth to Gen X,
> Y, and Z who now fill our public school desks. Those born since 1985 are
> fully wired differently than those of us born before this year of
> significance.
>
> ** **
>
>             Take a brief historical review of the move from locality to
> globality. For most of human history it is the local context that informed
> community life. From the earliest days communications could have been with
> smoke signals such as is romanticized among our native aboriginal people or
> it could have been drumming. We know that there are lost communities that
> use such primitive means of inter-local means of communication. Perhaps, it
> was the Roman era when an extensive road system began to make travel more
> national. Certainly, the development of our Inter-State system did much to
> collapse the East Coast to the West Coast.
>
> ** **
>
> In our own time we have seen the creation of the telephone and rural
> electrification that became the process of breaking down the uniqueness of
> our national heterogeneity. I can remember during the early years of our
> participation in World War II that USO “canteen” hostesses could tell,
> almost to the city, where soldiers were raised by the uniqueness of their
> vocal accents.
>
>
>
>             Electrification made possible radio communication that began
> the process of homogenizing our world. On the American (USA) continent the
> first radio “networks” were ABC, CBS, and NBC. Local affiliates supported
> the Big Three. Then, during WWII, the invention of the oscilloscope
> developed into the initial rudimentary television.
>
> ** **
>
>             The creation of this potential was like a pebble dropped into
> a pond. The ripples of the future were picked up by the winds of change to
> blow it into a tsunami that soon overwhelmed the local with the creation of
> the national. With this development our homogenizing took a massive leap. Wikipedia
> reports that, ****
>
> Since the mid-1990s, web development has become one of the fastest-growing
> industries <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry> in the world.[*citation
> needed <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>*] In 1995
> the United ****
>
> States had fewer than 1,000 web-development companies, but by 2005 there
> were over 30,000 such companies.[*citation needed<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed>
> *] The growth of this industry is being pushed by large businesses
> wishing to sell products and services to their customers and to automate<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automate>business
> workflow <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow>.**[3]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn3>
> ****
>
> ** **
>
>             Suddenly, national networking was supplanted by the Global
> Web. The invention of the micro-chip made the use of hand-held devices
> ubiquitious. The use of the web, particularly through the social systems of
> email and texting, is addictive. The use of the web now supports a healthy
> global exchange along with the means to support national and international
> political and social rebellion. We now live in a global culture that
> surpasses nationalization. In part, this adds to our global angst. No
> longer can we describe our socialization as national. We live in a global
> society intimitely tied together electronically and socially. This earth is
> now our home!****
>
> ** **
>
> *The collapse of the social process*
>
> * *
>
> *The collapse of global economics, the family, education, and national
> symbols-- *
>
> *            *As our global society begins to define itself, we have
> experienced a total societal upheaval. Global evidence of this situation is
> the collapse of the American rust-belt economics and manufacturing, or
> what’s a NAFTA for? Look at global economics in which the United States
> loses its prime international credit rating, or examine the economic issues
> of Ireland, Greece, Italy, France, Germany and the EURO. The rise of China
> as a new economic force and a military presence has great potental and
> far-reaching influence for good or ill. Add to this mix the economic
> influence of India and Sub-Saharn Africa and it is possible to get a sense
> of the potential shift in global influence. Does this mean that North
> America (Canada and the USA) may experience the fate of Holland, Portugal,
> France and Great Britian as colonial empires?****
>
>             ****
>
> Next, consider the global collapse of the family, the inadequacy of our
> educational systems and the disrespect for our national symbols. The
> evidence can be as local as that of the *Hutchinson Daily News* article,
> “Vandals damage 67 grave markers in Hutchinson.” Unfortunately, it can be
> added that many of our Salina Central High School youth do not find
> meaningful the morning ritual of the Pledge of Allegiance.****
>
>             ****
>
>             *The collapse of religion—*
>
> What about the collapse of religion? The Postmodern worldview is the
> denial of supernaturalism that is the bedrock of traditional religious
> views as broad as the Judeo/Christian and Muslim religions. What this
> indicates is the collapse of our traditional ****Christian** **Churches***
> * and its pastoral leadership. One reviewer observed: ****
>
> Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service
> and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy
> to forget, offering little and demanding less. ****
>
>             ****
>
>             *The National Study of Religion and Youth[4]<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn4>
> ***
>
> Between 2002 and 2005 a national survey of Religion and Youth (3,300
> youth,13 to 17) was conducted by the Social Science Departments at Notre
> Dame and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.**[5]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn5>The Lily Foundation funded the survey. This is a serious study, the result
> of which have been published in several documents. Kendra Creasy Dean, a
> professor of religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, is charged with
> sharing the finding of this report with the nation’s churches. ****
>
> ** **
>
> What this study reveals is that our youth and their parents practice a
> religion of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: ****
>
> Moralistic—“I’ll be a nice person.” ****
>
> Therapeutic—“Because I want people to like me.” ****
>
> Deism—“This makes my god happy.” ****
>
> At whose feet are they forming such errant beliefs but from their parents!
> The fault is the inadequacy of our Christian pastors and their theological
> education. Dr. Dean observes, ****
>
> But what is to be done? In order to produce ardent young ****
>
> Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission
> and model an understanding of being Christian.****
>
> ** **
>
>             In support of this conclusion, this study reports that the
> Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), with its emphasis upon family life,
> the stringent requirement that every young adult be involved in a one or
> two year mission assignments, and its daily training of their youth in
> their own homes as well as in the sanctuary (church) under the tutelage of
> trained lay people. The LDS parents and youth are the ones who best
> articulate the elements of their belief system more than any other major
> Christian church or denomination. ****
>
> ** **
>
>             Even this success does not convince me that Mormonism is an
> appropriate response to the postmodern future. As an outsider making
> judgments, it is apparent that their worldly structure is strong, but their
> cosmology is metaphysical and thereby irrelevant as a postmodern response.
> Anything illusionary can not pass the test of human experience because it
> is based on a lie. ****
>
> ** **
>
>             *The collapse of politics—*
>
>             Preachers are not the only ones at fault. They are as blind
> as our politicians. Both political parties are blinded by this new
> Postmodern Worldview. Global politics illuminate a general sickness that
> we experience in the State of Kansas and a national legislative grid-lock.The
> difference is the Republicans firmly believe that when the wealthy are kept
> wealthy they will be generous. The Democrats firmly believe that a global
> safety net is the answer. Unfortunately, both answers are weak sisters. *No
> one has the answer because the future is in the hands of our youth where it
> belongs.** *****
>
> ** **
>
> *The Reaction of the Older Generation*
>
> * *
>
> *A response to angst--*
>
> *            *How long will it be until the Postmodern Worldview is the
> accepted one? It will be over the dead bodies of those born before1985. In
> truth, our elders are hurrying to that end as fast as it is humanly
> possible. The best response is to love and care for our older populations
> because they are living in *Hospice Times*. They are scared to death as
> they experience the collapse of everything they held important and sacred.
> ****
>
> *            *The adult population is privileged to be chosen to live in
> these societal end times. Please note that this is a sociological rather
> than a theological argument. These end times do not predict the end of the
> world, but forth-tell the shape of the near and on-going future. ****
>
> ** **
>
> It is unfortunate that our older global populations are experiencing the
> roughest transition ever in history because it is taking place over such a
> short time. This transition is just 100 years old, a very short period
> measured in historical time. Note that Hebraic history is measured in 2,000
> years, and Christian history marks changes over a period of 1,500 years.
> The Modern Era lasted only 500 years, and the Einsteinian revolution took
> place just 100 years ago.
>
> ** **
>
>             The response of the older adult part of our global society is
> to hide behind conservative politics and religion. Both of these things are
> illusions of reality because our current politics and religion are as dead
> as the Modern Worldview that sustained us for the last 600 years. ****
>
> ** **
>
>             One reaction is that many adult populations ran to find
> security in conservative religions. It matters not if they are Christian or
> otherwise. Frightened people drifted off to those who promise their members
> a rose garden that is an illusion of hope. This religiosity is an illusion
> because the theory is not grounded in human experience; it is a wish dream
> unconnected to human experience. People are fearful because they are
> practicing a religion that is unconnected to the new worldview. The result
> is that today’s older populations are like reeds in the wind; they have no
> roots deep-set in reality. They live on shaky ground.****
>
> ** **
>
>             Seeking to return to the past is not the answer. Returning to
> the meta-physical principles developed by Greek philosophy leads to
> supernaturalism. This spiritual response is disconnected from living the
> humane and gracious life while working for justice and mercy. Please note
> that such phrases as this are neither conservative nor progressive
> language. Until we practice what we preach by living the humane life, it
> matters little to what church, synagogue, mosque, temple or wicken people
> go.****
>
> ** **
>
> The future for our adult population is bleak as long as people are hiding
> from reality. It is when we are at the throats of each other that we
> experience angst. It is when we all get along so that we live together in
> forgiving love that we will earn a deep inner peace.****
>
> ** **
>
> *What’s next?*
>
> * *
>
>             *Future directions-- *
>
> The truth is the end is done. It is those born before 1985 who wonder,
> “What is going on?” It is any wonder that 90% of our ****Salina**** youth
> and their parents are unchurched? As I’ve already declared, this global
> concern is solved over the dead bodies of those who are parents and
> grandparents. The last 600 years die hard, and we older adults are the
> products of the Modern Worldview. ****
>
> ** **
>
> *What of our youth? *
>
> They are blown away from traditional values and religious beliefs so as to
> be set free to design their own new tools on the forge of historical
> change. They are the vanguard of a new global society.****
>
> ** **
>
>             *What is the message for the future?[6]<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn6>
> *
>
> If there is to be a future—and most certainly there is one born after
> 1985; our youth are in the process of sharpening their tools on the anvil
> of the new paradigm. If the Intuitive Generation is to be successful, they
> can define themselves by living the humane and gracious life while working
> for justice and mercy that peace is the product of their actions.*
> *
>
> Yes, this is a good place to start.****
>
> wes****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *RESOURCES DEVELOPED ON THE TOPIC BY DR. SALMON*
>
> ** **
>
> * *
>
> *Books appropriate to the topic of this paper*
>
> * *
>
> *Borg, Marcus J., Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their
> Meaning and Power*, NY:Harper One. $25.99.
>
> * *
>
> Dean, Kenda Creasy,  *Almost Christian: what the faith of our teenagers
> is telling the ******American**** ****Church*****, Princeton Theological
> Seminary, 2010. I have a 20-page report on this material, plus an 8.5 X 14
> Summary Chart.****
>
> ** **
>
> Sweet, Leonard , *Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic*.  I have
> a 20-page analysis and personal reflections on it. In the late 1970’s, Dr.
> Sweet rang one of the first bells announcing the paradigm shift to
> postmodernism and its affect on society. ****
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> *Books written by Dr. Salmon[7]<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftn7>
> *
>
> * *
>
> *Our Old Christian Code Words: Head Trip Analysis to Gut Trip Analysis*.
>
> This is a workbook that enables the reader to utilize this new post-modern
> approach and thinking. $15.00 from Dr. Salmon.****
>
> * *
>
> *The Making of a Teacher: Bible Studies in the Gospel of Matthew*.
>
> This is 29 lessons based on a study of the Gospel of Matthew. It includes
> postmodern insights from a local IHOP Bible Study, plus the insights from
> seven years of sermons based on the appropriate lectionary material in
> Matthew. $17.50 from Dr. Salmon.****
>
> * *
>
> *One ******Mission******, Two Objectives: Bible Studies in the Gospel of
> Mark*.
>
> This is the recent publication of Dr. Salmon. It will be delivered
> sometime before Christmas 2012. It uses the same format as the Matthew
> material. $17.50 from Dr. Salmon.****
>
> * *
>
> * *
>
> *A new book under construction*
>
> * *
>
> *Conversations in Jail: for the Prisoner in all of us*.
>
> From many interviews with prisoners in the Saline County Jail and the
> Ellsworth Correctional Facility, Dr. Salmon identified seven key themes and
> seven appropriate responses. This information is conveyed through stories
> of his encounters. The audience for the book is jail chaplains, for the
> general population, and anyone working as first-responders in counseling
> sessions; i.e., pastors and guidance counselors. ****
>
> ** **
> **
> ------------------------------
> **
>
> **[1]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref1>Bob Dylan born 1941-Present. Introduced this song in 1963. Wikipedia:
> **November 9, 2012**;
>
> **9:45 p.m.** This song is believed to be in the Public Domain.  If any
> one knows otherwise, please email me at wsalmon at cox.net.
>
> **[2]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref2>My informal studies of the
> ****Salina**** student populations indicate that together our local
> churches serve about 10% of our school age students.
>
> **[3]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref3>Wikipedia.
> **December 3, 2012**.  **7p.m.**
>
> **[4]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref4>
> Dean, * Almost Christian: what the faith of our teenagers is telling the
> American Church*, Oxford University Press, 240 pages; 2010.
>
>
> <https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref5>
> **
> ******
>
> **[6]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref6>Since writing this paper for the Central Kansas Cooperative in Education
> (CKCIE), colleagues sent me information about, “****Burning** **Man.****”
> You are encouraged to research this sight because this is a postmodern
> development that forth-casts the new future. See what you think!
>
> **[7]**<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/html/compose/static_files/blank_quirks.html#13be757fe9f2e93f__ftnref7>Over the next four years, Dr. Salmon will publish study books covering the
> entire New Testament except for the Book of Revelation.
>
> _______________________________________________
> OE mailing list
> OE at lists.wedgeblade.net
> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20121230/2b6e35a8/attachment.html>