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

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346]AC that my comments gave"hints" about what I "wantedto hear"ledhim, perhaps,to resistrevisingexceptfor grammarandpunctuation becauseother revisionswould havemeantchanginghispositionstobemorelikemine.Bynot revising,Lukeavoided thepossibilitythat mybeliefs-which heconsideredradicallyopposedtohis-would influencehistexts. While I assumedthat Luke couldelaborateon hispositions in responseto mycomments,hesawlittlenegotiationbetweenrevisionandappropriation. And, in a sense,he was correct. Although I thought I was careful not to foreground my readingofthe text,my questionsclearlypromoted alternativeways ofreadingthat he didnot value. Ifanything, my responseto Luke'stextsprobably reinforcedhisfeelingthatmycommentswereaformoftrickery,designedto elicitwhat I wanted him to think andrepresentativeofthose in power who try to subvert his religiousbeliefs.What atthe timeIconsideredapracticalstrategyforrespondingto Luke'stextssothat hecouldn't criticizeme (asbeingpoliticallycorrector biased.)in retrospect representsamissed"teachablemoment." Insteadofengaginginacritical dialoguewith Lukeabouthisreadingsoftexts,mycommentsreinforcedhisviewthat I wasanimpositionalauthorityand,mostimportantly,eliminatedtheopportunityfor Luke and me to consider possible sources of conflict between our readings. Evaluation,then, further complicatedthe waysthat LukeandIcouldnegotiateour competingassumptionsabouttexts,authority, andknowledge. Due to the nature ofLuke's oral andwritten responsesthroughout the term, I wasnot surprised to find Luke ashostile to the courseatthe end ofthe term ashe wasin the beginning. Basically,Lukemaintainedthe position headoptedfrom the start: English 300, which aimsto examineandvalueissuesofdifferencewithin the United States,runscounterto hisreligiousbeliefs.Becausefundamentalistdiscourse istheprimary interpretivelensthrough whichhereadstheworld,anyissuethat does not acknowledgeor contradictsbiblicalauthority isincorrect: To me,itallhasreligiousaspectstoit. If you want to getinto it,I'll getinto itwith you but we'd beherewayaftertwo o'clock. Youknow. That's whereI'm comingfrom anduntileverybody believes,you know, thismaysoundconceitedbut until everybodybelievesgenerallythe same thing Ibelieve,you know?...the stuffI'vemademy mindup on,you know, that'swhar Ibelieve andI believeit's the correct view. (Taped Interview 3-16-93,emphasis added) GivenLuke'sassumptionthat biblicalauthorityprovideshimwith correctviews,he isresistantto any coursewhichaimsto valuedifference.Despitethe assumptionsof criticaleducatorsthat criticalthinking cannot beseparatedfrom issuesofdifference becauseallknowledgeissituatedwithin aworldview,Lukemakescleardistinctions between"biased"knowledgeandthinking becausethe valuingofmultipleperspectivesisequivalent,in hiseyes,to moral relativism.For Luke,valuingdifferencein perspectivesleadsto toleratingthosewhoselifestyleshefindsirreconcilablewith his religiousbeliefs.To toleratedifferenceundermineshisfaiththat anindividualmust be savedin order to be accepted: This classthis university ismakingustake, itwasn't teachingushow to criticallythink. It was teachingustothinkaboutdiversity. It wastellingusthat everyone'sthe sameandallthisstuff. I will make up my own mind aswhat to think andI don't needthe university tellingme that I should tolerate everybody ... becausenot everybody'stolerable!(Taped Interview 3-16-93, emphasis added)
Discoursesof Fundementalism 347 Luke's rejoinderthat "not everybody'stolerable,"isstronglyrooted inhis religious identity, onethat works to categorizepeopleinto believersandnonbelievers,saved andcondemned. For Luke,anydifference-in race,class,gender,sexualorientation, and soon-is aconstruct to betranscended for religioussalvation. Of course, the term "tolerance"itselfsuggestsanunexaminedpositionofprivilegefromwhichthose inpower canchoosewhom (andwhom not)to respect.ButLuke'sresponsessetinto relief my own assumptions about what constitutes "tolerable" behavior in the classroom.AndwhileI didnot sharethe groundsupon whichLuke'sresponseswere based,hisresponsesdidencouragemeto examinethewaysthat my relianceon critical pedagogicaldiscoursesobscured,in someways,the limitsofmy own tolerance for difference. Intersections: Discourses of Fundamentalism and Critical Pedagogy Those who do not embracethe fundamentalistmessagehaveoften failedto appreciatethe bindingpower ofthat messageoverthe heartsandmindsofBiblebelievers.In criticizingthe message,onecannotfailto comprehendandrespectthesituationofthemessengers-who, like allinterpreters, maketheir assertionsbecausetheir text tellsthem so. (Boone111) Luke's experiencesinthis classraisesignificantquestionsfor criticaleducators to considerasthey andtheir students investigatehow" difference"shapespeople's lives.Isit possibleto enactacriticalpedagogyin aclassroomwhere students do not viewknowledgeaspartial andsituated?When students' main sourcesofauthority are fundamentalist in nature, how can critical teachers legitimize such beliefsin relation to their pedagogicalgoals?And what should be the limits of ateacher's "tolerance" for student resistanceto courseactivitiesand assignedtexts? As ateacher who supports the goalsof critical pedagogy, I am troubled and unsettledbystudentswho viewsuchpedagogicsaschallengesto (andevendestructive of theirreligiousidentities.Inthesamevein,lam troubledbyteacherswho too easily dismisstheir students' concerns asnaive,uncritical, or resistant. For instance, in talkingwithcolleaguesabouthowIcouldhaveengagedmoreproductivelywith Luke, somesuggestedthat studentswith fundamentalistbeliefsshouldgoto fundamentalist schoolsifthey do not wishto beinfluencedby secularvalues.Others saidthat I was givenanopportunity to "enlighten"him. Andonesaidthat whenfacedwith asimilar student,shesimplyignoredhim. Ibelievetheseresponsesareconnectedto how issues of faithareneglectedwithin criticalpedagogicaldiscoursesin general.The absence ofdiscussionaboutstudent'sreligiousbackgroundsinconnectionwith constructsof gender, race,class,and soon createsadiscoursethat erasesor" others" students in polarizingandreductiveways. It's true that Luke'sresponsesinthisclassroomwere extreme,eveninthe eyesofthe other "ConservativeChristians"in the class.Butto saythat Lukedoesn'tbelonginapublicuniversitybecauseofhisreligiousviewsseems reductive,andthe notion that heneedsto be"enlightened"by meequallysmacksof arroganceandshort sightedness.AsStephenBatesconcludesinBattleground,which profilesacourt battle between fundamentalistsand educators in Tennesseeover a publicschoolreadingseries,thepresenceoffundamentaliststudentsinthe classroom
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