Senior Quote

"Walk on, and you'll never walk alone."
-the Chariot

Whiskey and Rye

"The three men I admire most: the father, son, and the holy ghost, they caught the last train for the coast" -Don McLean, American Pie

"God is dead", penned Freidrich Nietzche.

Don't misunderstand this quote. Nietzche was in no way making a truth claim, or attacking Cristianity. He was saying that (according to him) a god-or God- was/is no longer a necessity to the human being.

Sound familiar?

Think Secular Humanism. The theology of Secular Humanism says "There is no god...Man is the measure. Man sets the norm."

Look at the epigram above.

That is a line from Don McLean's popular song American Pie. What does it say? God left us. God is no longer a factor in our lives.

This is Secular Humanism.

For the sake of a grade in English 12, I will catagorize my argument, according to 5 of Mj's 6 facets of analyzing worldview in literature:
1) God and the Universe
What is in control of the Universe? Not God; he left. Not the Devil; he's laughing along
with us (I'll discuss that later). That leaves us basically one option: ourselves.
2) Humanity and Identity
What does it mean to be human? To be mortal. We are gonna die. Sing the chorus to
yourself.
Are we innocent or guilty? Innocent. God left us. There is no longer any higher power to
tell us what is right or wrong. We can't be guilty of anything that is no longer wrong
3) Conflict
Where is there conflict? Between man and the God that left them. Take this quote again:
"The three men I admire most,
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast,
The day the music died"
A popular idea behind why this song was written was as a tribute to the plane crash that
killed Buddy Holly, Frankie Valens, and JP Richardson. This line, as I read it, says "Why
God let this happen?" It does also tie into the Secular Humanist theology, but it creates a
tension between McLean and God as well.
4) Hope
Where is there Hope? Goin' down to the levee with the boys and drinkin' it up, burying
your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, singin' loud and havin' a good time. Hope is found
in yourself and the delights of the world.
5) Values
What is valued? The music. Every verse ends with "the day the music died". The music is
valued above religion, above fame,above even yourself.

Secular or Cosmic?

"Wizard is about to die"
-Five Iron Frenzy

Does the Wizard of Oz represent Cosmic or Secular Humanism? This discussion arose in class today. In my earlier post i argued for Cosmic (New Age), but then slightly contradicted myself by claiming the Wizard of Oz is atheistic.
Here is a solution. (Thanks Mj and Kumo)
The Wizard of Oz, if necessary to label with a worldview, best fits into Secular Humanism. Why? Because (according to the chart i have referenced before), "There is no God...man is the measure. Man sets the norm". Think about it. What were the conflicts-or rather pursuits- in the Wizard of Oz:
-Dorothy had to get home
-Tin Man needed a heart
-Scarecrow needed a brain
-The Lion needed courage
How were these resolved? By the individual. What did the Oz 'reveal' to all of them? That they each had what they wanted. Dorothy had the power to get home; she just clicked 'em fancy red heels three times. The Lion didn't find courage in Emerald City; he found it on the way. You get the idea. Man (or lion or whatever) set the standard. To twist Nietzche, God was 'dead'. There was no use for a God when each of the individuals of Oz was able to, in a sense, give themselves what they wanted. God wasn't necessay.
Neither was the Wizard, really.

Worldviews and Wizards

When looking for an author's worldview in a text, it is crucial to first have an understanding of popular worldviews. (Follow the link on the right of the page to Mj's Blog, then another link at that page to Worldview Chart for a list and description of popular worldviews). Once you have an understanding of worldviews, you can then begin to deduce an author's worldview by theme's and ideas that he develops in his work. Take for example the Wizard of Oz. An overarching theme is that of the Wizard (of course). What is the Wizard? He's what everybody wants. There's a yellow brick road that leads to him. But when you follow it out, past the lions and tigers and bears, what have you got? As Donald Miller puts it, "just a schmuck behind a curtain" (Blue Like Jazz). He's just some guy that made himself a god, tried to make himself God. This seems rooted in New Age philosophy. Or, perhaps, it makes an atheistic claim? When you pull back the curtain, there is no god. To quote the aforementioned Worldview Chart, "No supernatural explanation is needed. Man is the measure. Man sets the norm." You had some guy, the Wizard, setting the measure for the land of Oz. And when Dorothy and Co. pulled back that curtain, there was no need for a supernatural explanation, was there? There was "The Wizard", just some little old guy pullin' switches and throwin' levers, blowin' smoke, making himself god. So to be honest, as you look at any work to analyze it for a worldview, your own worldview, that tainted filter by wich you view the world, is going to influence what you see. Read what I have written. It should be almost glaring that I am skeptical, even sarcastic, towards both Atheism and New Age. Because I am an adherent of a Judeo-Christian worldview. Now don't get any ideas that I am saying "read into it whatever you wish"; that's postmodernism. That's relativism.

That's wrong.

All I am saying is that what you see is going to be biased.