Subverting global myths : theology and the public issues shaping our world / [print]
Vinoth Ramachandra.
- Downers Grove, Illinois : IVP Academic, (c)2008.
- 296 pages ; 24 cm
Myths of terrorism -- Reaping the whirlwind -- The globalization of Islamist militancy -- Deconstructing the "war on terror" -- Applying just-war reasoning -- Needed : humility and courageous imagination -- Myths of religious violence -- Escaping parochialism -- The complexities of "religious violence" -- Two Asian case studies -- Atheist polemics and collective deception -- Recovering Christian integrity -- Mutual criticism -- Myths of human rights -- The language of rights -- Questioning the standard liberal story -- Toward an alternative story -- Individual rights -- Relationality and rights -- Legislating for rights -- Recovering a tradition -- Myths of multiculturalism -- Understanding cultures -- Multicultural nationhood -- A defense of multicultural society -- Reconfiguring the multicultural state -- Secularist fundamentalism -- Rights of refugees and asylees -- Ethics of freedom -- Myths of science -- Science as ideology -- Two widespread myths -- Scientific research and moral responsibility -- Genetic engineering -- The return of eugenics -- Post/transhumanism -- Gods or nothings : the false choice -- Myths of postcolonialism -- Decentering world history -- The colonial legacy -- Postcolonialism -- Toward a more nuanced understanding -- Postcolonialism and resistance from the margins -- Some theological reflections.
"It is a myth that only the uninformed masses believe in myths and that power brokers, media moguls, leading scientists, financial tycoons, political luminaries and intellectual elites don't. The myths that the ruling classes believe may be more sophisticated, but they are myths nonetheless." "These public, large-scale narratives engage our imaginations and shape the way we experience the world. They are the stories that tell us what is important to know and how to live." "Subverting Global Myths takes up six areas of contemporary global discourse - terrorism, religious violence, human rights, multiculturalism, science and postcolonialism. Here powerful myths energize and mobilize considerable public funding as well as academic production." "Ramachandra draws at length on his own experience working among university students and professors against a backdrop of militant religious and secular ideologies in Sri Lanka, a country that has suffered from "terrorism" and a "war on terror" that has claimed over sixty thousand lives since the late 1970s and shows no signs of abating. Reflected as well is his experience of living and traveling extensively not only in the West but in several of the trouble spots of Asia today." "Those who care to explore reality rather than flip from one reality show to another will appreciate this invitation to subvert present reality in order to make way for another." ~ Book Jacket.
9780830828852
2008008911
Religion and social problems. Social problems--Moral and ethical aspects.