Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American CulturePenn State Press, 10 սեպ, 2015 թ. - 289 էջ Since 9/11, America has presented itself to the world as a Christianist culture, no less antimodern and nostalgic for an idealized past than its Islamist foes. The master-narrative both sides share might sound like this: Once upon a time, the values of the righteous community coincided with those of the state. Home and land were harmoniously united under God. But through intellectual pride (read: science) and disobedience (read: human rights), this God-blessed homeland was lost and is now worth every drop of blood it takes, ours and others’, to recover. For Americans, the prime source for this once-and-future-kingdom myth is the Bible, with its many narratives of blessings gained, lost, and regained: the garden of Eden, the covenant with Abraham, the bondage in Egypt, the exodus under Moses, the glory of David and Solomon’s realm, the coming of the promised Messiah, his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, his apocalyptic return at the end of history, and his establishment of the earthly kingdom of God. As Homeland Mythology shows, these biblical narratives have, over time, inspired a multitude of nationalist narratives, myths ingeniously spun out to justify a number of decidedly unchristian policies and institutions—from Indian genocide, the slave trade, and the exploitation of immigrant workers to Manifest Destiny, imperial expansionism, and, most recently, preemptive war. On March 25, 2001, George W. Bush shared a bit of political wisdom: “You can fool some of the people all of the time—and those are the ones you have to concentrate on.” The cynical use of religion to cloak criminal behavior is always worth exposing, but why our leaders lie to us is no longer a mystery. What does remain mysterious is why so many of us are disposed to believe their lies. The unexamined issue that this book addresses is, therefore, not the mendacity of the few, but the credulity of the many. |
From inside the book
Արդյունքներ 34–ի 1-ից 5-ը:
... army of God hemmed about by the forces of the Antichrist, which for them meant the Pope of Rome and his agents, the Spanish, the French, and the Indians—the first Anglo-American “axis of evil.” The successes of these settlers both ...
... force of arms, to expand its borders to that of David's kingdom three thousand years ago. According to what they call God's “prophetic time table,” only when the Twelve Tribes are regathered in their historical homeland and 144,000 of ...
... forces were beginning a three-year occupation of Cuba, George M. Cohan wrote the immensely popular song “You're a Grand Old Flag.” In his one allusion to Francis Scott Key's poem, Cohan wrote: “You're the emblem of / The land I love ...
... forces with which we can nourish our own and increase them are those we get from others.”10 Human communities of this sort, according to some estimates, may have existed for several million years already when—only a brief four or five ...
... ones. Finally, to restore social equilibrium, a seemingly new civil religion must be inaugurated. When a nation feels immediately endangered by external forces, however, these dissonances are likely to be ignored. The proclaimed ...
Բովանդակություն
1 | |
23 | |
3 Myths of Curses Myths of Blessings | 59 |
4 Narratives of the Night | 91 |
5 Abduction Narratives | 121 |
6 Homeland Nostalgia and Holy War | 153 |
7 Secular Modernism Biblical Style | 189 |
Notes | 225 |
Bibliography | 249 |
Index | 257 |
Back Cover | 264 |
Այլ խմբագրություններ - View all
Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American Culture Christopher Collins Դիտել հնարավոր չէ - 2013 |