• Wes Bloomquist •
• Originally published October 31, 2008 at 5:49 p.m., updated October 31, 2008 at 5:49 p.m.

Postmodernism is a term that covers lots of territory and reaches into almost every area of our lives including art, architecture, music, literature, politics, morality and religion. It is defined as the belief that direction, evolution and progression have ended in social history, and society is based, instead, upon the decline of absolute truths and the rise of relativity.

It began its rise in the late '40s and really kicked in, in the rebellious sixties. In the area of religion, it's a search for meaning and religious experience outside of the traditional beliefs of Christianity. There have always been those who rebelled against the religion of their parents, often because of an unloving, authoritarian or demanding parent. Some of those who rebelled promoted atheism or foreign religions through their writings or radio and television.

Judge Learned Hand, a highly respected jurist in New York City said, "the hand that rules the press, the radio, the screen and the far-spread magazine rules the country; whether we like it or not, we must learn to accept it."

Many Americans now seek enlightenment from the Dalai Lama, not the Bible, and cleansing of sins from the waters of the Ganges, not the blood of Christ. Or, they design their own religion, made to order like a pan pizza.

This from the "Baptist Press," Ted Turner, billionaire founder of CNN and famed Christian basher, is delighted with postmodern trends. He helped dream up the 2000 Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual leaders, held at the United nations. The U.N. organizers invited some 1,800 participants from nearly 1,009 countries - almost none of them from evangelical Christian circles.

Turner told the assembled notables that he turned away from the "intolerance" of his Christian upbringing, and his own early intention to be a missionary, when he studied other religions. "We thought we were the only ones going to heaven," he said. "Now I believe there may be one God who manifests himself in different ways to different people.

From the BBC: "For postmoderns, every society is in a state of constant change; there are no absolute values, only relative ones, nor are there any absolute truths. In a postmodern world individuals work with their religious impulses, by selecting the bits of various spiritualities that 'speak to them' and create their own internal spiritual world. The 'theology of the pub' becomes as valid as that of the priest."

Chuck Colson notes that it's not difficult to see why Eastern religion is such an attractive form of salvation for a post-Christian culture. It assuages the ego by pronouncing the individual as divine, and it gives a gratifying sense of "spirituality" without making any demands in terms of doctrinal commitment or ethical living.

The Christian religion has served the world for 2,000 years and now is no time to throw it overboard. It's our responsibility to live it and share it in an appealing manner.

Raymond F. Smith is a deacon at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria and President of Strong Families of Victoria

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