It has been a while since I went off on postmodernism, which is clear proof that I have been being good, so allow me this oblique observation. With the election of Barack Obama, we now have in the White House the kind of protean shape-shifter ideally fitted for the pomo ethos. This provides us with a nice blend of that up and coming pomostance with old-fashioned political hypocrisy, or rather, what they call in campaigns “experience.” For those who still believe that an argument ought to lead to something, and that fixed conclusions are a good thing, this promises to be an exasperating four years.
But it will not do to turn back the civic clock to a secular political modernism. That is what got us here, for crying out loud. When you are watching a movie on your DVD, and it turns out to be a real dog, you don’t go back to the beginning and try it again. It will simply do the same thing to you again. Why wouldn’t it?
Modernism pretends to have the truth, but without humility. Postmodernism pretends to have the humility, but without the truth. Modernism was a bad dream. Postmodernism is the cold sweats right before you wake up. Wake up O sleeper, and Christ will shine upon you.