10-01-2003, 09:53 PM
I would say that the Born Again Christian ™, much like the Islamist ™ represents a deliberate, excessive attempt to simplify a complex reality by filtering it through an abstract and reactionary moral code.
Mr. Said is on record countless times as being against both groups for the same reason: his argument in Orientalism that reducing reality (and real people) to stereotypes will only lead to terrible things.
What is true is that these people self-identify as Born Agains, and their opinions, in large majority, reflect the same simplifications common to their particular brand of Christianity. He hasn't said "all Americans" or "all Westerners" or "all Christians", since none of those groups hold even common opinions, let alone uniform ones. He has isolated one (barely) manageable group, whose beliefs, while not uniform, are generally held in common. Fundamentalism does that to people, which is, I think, his point.
I suppose you'd find yourself in a cyclical trap if you tried to condemn groups who simplify excessively, which is in itself simplifying excessively. You would require an impossible degree of specificity.
You're right, it's a human trap. I think Said falls into it far less than most, and is careful to minimize it when he does. However, I also think that avoiding it entirely would pull you completely out of the realm of public discourse; even individuals are deeply contradictory beings, and rendering every generalization unto specificity would take lifetimes.
Jester
P.S: www.edwardsaid.org has a list of his recent articles, plus obituaries and whatnot.
Mr. Said is on record countless times as being against both groups for the same reason: his argument in Orientalism that reducing reality (and real people) to stereotypes will only lead to terrible things.
What is true is that these people self-identify as Born Agains, and their opinions, in large majority, reflect the same simplifications common to their particular brand of Christianity. He hasn't said "all Americans" or "all Westerners" or "all Christians", since none of those groups hold even common opinions, let alone uniform ones. He has isolated one (barely) manageable group, whose beliefs, while not uniform, are generally held in common. Fundamentalism does that to people, which is, I think, his point.
I suppose you'd find yourself in a cyclical trap if you tried to condemn groups who simplify excessively, which is in itself simplifying excessively. You would require an impossible degree of specificity.
You're right, it's a human trap. I think Said falls into it far less than most, and is careful to minimize it when he does. However, I also think that avoiding it entirely would pull you completely out of the realm of public discourse; even individuals are deeply contradictory beings, and rendering every generalization unto specificity would take lifetimes.
Jester
P.S: www.edwardsaid.org has a list of his recent articles, plus obituaries and whatnot.