The first time I really learned what postmodernism meant was about a year ago, on a Sunday morning, talking with some friends and our youth group leader. We were talking about doubt.
Our leader explained it like this: your generation has grown up in the postmodernist mindset that there is no universal truth, no system of meaning that has the right answer, and therefore you tend to doubt or question even those things that you are convinced are true.
You can find almost the same exact thing in "Postmodernism is Dead." Maybe he has read that article...
For me, this really resonates. I don't know whether this applies to people who are in their twenties and above, but for my age bracket it seems to sum things up well.
Take for example, religion and tolerance. The whole mantra of our generation in the US seems to be: "be tolerant" or "all religions are equally valid." It hasn't always been that way. People used to be fully convinced that theirs was the only religion and the only truth. Of course, that led to some pretty nasty treatment of those who didn't agree with them so I'm not saying tolerance is all bad. I just think religious tolerance is an issue where it is easy to see the difference that a postmodernist mindset makes.
I wonder how much effect these postmodernist thoughts have on our mental health. Believing that nothing you believe is universally true is pretty disorienting, don't you think?
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