Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American CulturePenn State Press, 10 սեպ, 2015 թ. - 288 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 44–ի 6-ից 10-ը:
... king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. A modern paraphrase might run ... kings' reigns were militarily successful, thanks largely to the weakness of Egypt and the preoccupation of Assyria and ...
... king they sought to honour, eager to pay court to the absent prince as though he were present. Then the cult grew as those to whom the king is unknown are spurred on by the ambitious craftsmen. In his desire, it may be, to please the ...
... King,” imagine him ruling some faraway realm, and, for his visits to his worshippers, build him a temple on the model of a royal palace with an inner throne room. Traditional religions may be rooted in the communal level of society, but ...
... kings who had conversed with gods. Through the first century AD, the Roman Empire crafted the civil religion and applied it to promote its authority over these provinces. Rome's policy was to tolerate all the religions of all its ...
... Kings 14:22 that King Amaziah “built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that he slept with his fathers,” the phrase “after that” seems to us to mean some forward movement in time. What the phrase originally meant was that the king ...
Բովանդակություն
Myths of Curses Myths of Blessings | |
Narratives of the Night | |
Abduction Narratives | |
Homeland Nostalgia and Holy | |
Secular Modernism Biblical Style | |
Notes | |
Bibliography | |
Index | |
Այլ խմբագրություններ - View all
Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American Culture Christopher Collins Դիտել հնարավոր չէ - 2013 |