I am struck by Keyes' observation that one of the marks of postmodern thinking is that earnestness is equated with naivete. This is very telling if you think about its implications for the perception of genuine faith. Though I tend toward postmodernism in my thinking, I'm gradually sorting out which aspects of postmodernism I identify with, and which aspects I merely observe in terms of their effect on the world in which I live. This one is a little bit of both. As I read this book I'm gaining a better understanding of how people perceive me as being an earnest person, and I'm processing whether or not this should bother me.
"Human life raises countless expectations and hopes that are never realized but only mock us. Existentialism found this a cause for despair; postmodernism finds it a good joke- but both begin with a cynicism about our ability to know ultimate meaning." (65)
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