It's aQuestion ofFaith: Discourses of Fundamentalism ... - JAC Online

Discoursesof Fundementalism 343
versusassimilation,whichI readasamajorthemethroughoutthepoem,isnot relevant
to Luke becausethe narrator's identificationwith the Chicano community isonly
important inthat shecanprovideamodelto followfor"herpeople."Likehisreading
of "Lot's Wife," Luke's response to "Para Teresa" emphasizes the ways that an
individualachieves-or failsto achieve-salvationby rejectingcommunity norms for
theperceivedgreatergood-in thiscase"therespectandthe securityofbeingawhite
person."
TherelationshipbetweenLuke'sfundamentalistbeliefsandhisresponseto "Para
Teresa"canalsobe seeninthe waysthat Luke ignoresthe conclusion of the poem.
Having setup abinary betweenthe narrator asrolemodelandTeresaasapretender,
hecouldhardlyacknowledgethatthenarratorvaluesthechoicesthat Teresahasmade
in her life. ValidatingTeresa'suseofsuperficialmeansto become acceptedwould
betantamount to moral relativism. To acceptTeresa'sactionsaslegitimatewould
subvertthelegitimacyofthenarrator'sefforts.Likehisfaith,inwhicheveryindividual
either acceptsor rejectssalvation,Luke readsthe actionsofthe narrator andTeresa
aseither heroic or doomed to aninevitablefate-there areno gray areas.
Luke's response can alsoagainbe read asacommentary on his position asa
religiousbelieverwithinasecularinstitution.Lukeclearlyidentifieswith thenarrator,
who wins the game"under the noses"ofthosein power but stillremainstrue to her
beliefs.From the firstdaywith histheory ofevolutioncomment, Lukeshowedthat
he viewed the curriculum asa site of struggle between university teachings and
religiousbelief.Butratherthan viewingthisstruggleintermsofvarioussocialgroups
vying for legitimation through representation (asI did),Luke viewsit asastruggle
between religiousgroupsandsecularonesoverthe nature 0 fknow ledgeandbelief.
Asabeliever,Lukeconstantlynegotiatesknowledgethat is"neutral"versusthatwhich
is"biased."Likethe narrator in "ParaTeresa,"Lukeviewshimselfastaking asubtle
path of resistancefor which hewilleventually be rewarded. This belief,which he
describes in his first paper asan "unshakeable security and confidence that I am
headingfor somethingbetter ...the doorway to eternallife,"isreflectedinvirtually
allof his responsesto assignedtexts.
BeyondLuke'sresponsepapers,hisfundamentalistassumptionswerealsovisible
within his oral responses to his group members, Tyler and Margaret, and me
concerningthe finalcourseproject:acollaborativetext on "asingleissueor conflict
that directly impacts contemporary American life and culture." In addition to
compilinganannotatedbibliographyofatleastthirty sourcesofvaryingperspectives
andpositions,studentsalsoused"livedexperiences"suchasinterviews,observations,
andsurveysto gainadditionalinsightsintothe topic. Intheir projects,studentswere
encouraged to "present 'multiple truths' instead of just one way of seeing" by
foregroundingdifferencesinperspectivesabout thetopic. In keepingwith the goals
ofcriticalpedagogy,Iwantedstudentsto selecttopicsfor"real"audiencessothat their
work could havesomevisibleimpact beyond the classroom. In the previousterm,
forexample,onegroupproducedavideoonhomelessnessthat wasusedforresidence
hallprogrammingwhileanother hadwritten aneditorialforthe campusnewspaper
on student attitudestoward daterape. Butwhilethe previousclass'sevaluationsof