Oh Really? Postmodernism and Loss of Character Much has been written in recent years about this word postmodernism.

It is a concept that affects every approach to life. It has changed our language usage, for instance, regarding what is politically correct and what is not. For that reason Paul Holmes, an erstwhile popular New Zealand current affairs television personality, received an enormous amount of flack for calling Kofi Anan (previous chairman of the UN) a cheeky, little darky. While it is certainly not something to be applauded, it would not have caused a huge furore, say, twenty years ago. Some people might have gotten upset, others would have shrugged their shoulders, some would have suggested to him not to try to be funny by stereotyping in such a way. It has reached the point where the goalie of a soccer team for which I played seven years ago received a yellow card (= serious referees warning resulting in a fine of $20.=) for calling out to one of his defenders to watch that little Maori fellow over there. The little Maori fellow himself did not mind at all considered it even flattering to be singled out for special attention on account of his soccer skills, but the referee was very politically righteous about it and he received the backing from the regional soccer tribunal. A young lady in a student audience protested when the lecturer greeted the crowd with Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. That was sexist, it polarised people into typical, patriarchal gender objects. From then on the lecturer cheekily - addressed the crowd and individuals in it as the objects of my attention. The young lady did not like that either, but could not fault it. (Obviously, her human dignity was more wounded by being called an object, but had to accept the political correctness of it.) Postmodernism is very sensitive about being all things nice to all. Marcus Honeysett, in his book Meltdown, making sense of a culture in crisis, defines three key concepts in modernism. The first is relativism, the idea that there is no absolute truth and that there is no God Who defines what truth is. Ironically, the postmodernist has just made an absolute statement! The second concept is that of philosophical pluralism, the idea that, because all truth is relative, all ideas and truth claims must be treated with equal respect. There is no objective way to evaluate their respective merits. Following logically from the previous two concepts is the third and that is the suspicion of all that claims to be true and having all the answers. Christianity is immediately suspect, because it claims to be true for every one. The results are there for all to see. Politicians are so frightened of the resulting political correctness that they shy away from positive policies into negative campaigning. TV producers make completely artificial entertainment shows and air them as reality TV. Worse still are the shows that air personal problems for public consumption with no thought for truth or morality; you see, truth and morality presuppose a plumb line, an objective calibration stick by which to measure human thought, speech and behaviour, it requires a whole host of absolutes which only the Bible provides (Thus saith the Lord). The hollow reduction of human relational experiences to mere emotion-stirring entertainment denotes a fear of principled confrontation, erosion of character, when dealing with serious human situations.

Corrosive forces are powerfully at work in the world today. At the heart of Postmodernism, and therefore at the heart of much of contemporary culture, is denial of God, of sin, of truth, and a consistent effort of enthroning self. In universities the most provocative theory attracts the funding, in the popular media there is no criticism of films that celebrate violence or marital unfaithfulness, rather, they are warmly received. Filmmaker Scorcese declares openly that a successful film is easy to make as long as it contains the main ingredients of violence, defiance of authority, and sex. The pop group Eminem is, I believe, still the rage at the moment, despite lyrics which defend rape, torture and abuse of women. People are in crisis, culture is in crisis. You see, the dilemma is that, whereas people have cheapened the truth, put it on the trash heap, they cannot do the same with God, the yearning for God cannot be junked so easily. He has put eternity on the heart of men and women and this will not go away. Interest in spirituality, whatever mysterious notion this may have, is at an all-time high. Modernism promised to save the world with science. That did not work. The bankruptcy was evident. Postmodernism is all about spirituality, aimed at pampering every individuals need for fulfilment. And, in defining truth as what is true subjectively for each individual, as regards what makes the individual emotionally happy, Postmodernism is equally bankrupt. All the same, under the veneer of tolerance for differing views as there are no standards acceptable by which abortion and euthanasia could be condemned the outcry is enormous when a word is chosen wrongly, there is baying for blood. However, by what standards is that word chosen wrongly anyway? By the standards of human dignity? Who defines those standards? As one journalist in the New Zealand Herald wrote in despair regarding the faux pas of Paul Holmes, How many more times does the man have to say that he is deeply sorry? He only apologised five times publicly so far and offered to hand in his job. What else is required? It is a difficult world indeed where the emotional sensitivities of individuals become the measuring rod by which others are either praised or crucified. How much better to stand by the Word of God and have the ethical standards of the Scriptures as the light on ones path! When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost, said Billy Graham. Our society suffers from a serious character malady, because character does not develop in a vacuum, it develops as it is grounded in principled approaches to life which govern a persons thought, speech and actions. Such principled approaches can only come from a higher authority above and outside man himself, i.e. from the God Who made man. The very essence of a principle is that it transcends human subjectivism, it must come from a higher authority than man himself and is then through Gods grace embraced and lived out by such a man or woman. It results in making a stand for or against something and not budge, because the stand is founded in deep conviction rather than subjective preference. Also, sad to say, the Church has lost much character, and is not the strong voice of conscience to the nation God calls it to be because its members too have suffered from character malady, much because of emotion-driven worship which is not based on sound knowledge of Scripture, but on feelings for Jesus. And so, the Church is at loss for answers when confronted with questions as to why a wife and mother is ripped out of a happy family, why terrorists killed people in Madrid, London, and many other places. Knowing God through His revealed Word will strengthen believers beyond the emotional bafflement; character will be rebuilt as the

Church understands its God and His approaches to redemptive history better. It is the only enduring solution in the face of a bankrupt postmodernism. Dr Herm Zandman