Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The Death of American History

Thanks to materialism, consumerism, and postmodernism, our nation is sliding deeper into collective apathy and amnesia, when it comes to the study and understanding of its own history.

For a great article on this subject, follow this link to a piece by Brad Hart over at the excellent American Revolution blog.

For a discussion of postmodernism's effect on history, check out this link - which features Australian scholar Keith Windschuttle's remarks at a debate on "History, Truth, and Postmodernism." Windschuttle is the author of The Killing of History.

And, finally, for a great AUDIO resource...check out this link, which features Amy Orr-Ewing, a brilliant theologian, who refutes the postmodernist claim that "We cannot know history." Though her remarks focus on Christian history, her arguments apply to history in general. I highly recommend you listen to her presentation.

3 comments:

Brad Hart said...

Thanks for the plug! Those were some wonderful articles, especially the article by Windschuffle.

This is such an important issue. In my opinion, it is absolutely critical to society. The literal destruction of the objectivity and sincere scholastic inquiry brought on by the Enlightenment is, in my opinion, the great plague of our postmodern world. I've even been toying with the idea of creating a new blog dedicated to this very issue.

Brian Tubbs said...

Brad, you should register with Suite101.com if you haven't already. Then, head over to my section at...

http://protestantism.suite101.com

...and join in on the Postmodernism discussion. I need help! :-)

James Stripes said...

The general population of the United States has always preferred myth over history. Facts about our past create discomfort and often challenge a fragile patriotism that cannot withstand knowledge of impure motives, duplicity, and partisan interest.