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29 December 2009
03 December 2009
The Media America
In her book A New Religious America, Diana Eck seeks to paint a picture of the North American continent as one that is a diverse and welcoming place to people of all races and creeds. She cites examples from all over the country, showing people of other religions practicing in the United States. Eck seeks to inform the reader with eye opening facts and statistics that are meant to shed light on the issue of diversity in America. On paper this all seems well and good, but it would appear that there are two Americas to contend with, one that does coincide with Eck’s vision of a brighter tomorrow and one that does not. It becomes difficult to read as actions in the book become less apparent facts and more wide eyed and hopefully blind.
Eck begins the novel with the backdrop of American immigration policy of the last sixty years, building on the past to show the progress made by the country in such a short amount of time. She goes on to recount her travels and experiences with people from around the county and the things she has discovered in her travels. She says that these encounters have broadened and deepened her own religious background and hopes to share that with the rest of the nation. She writes on the great influx of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians and how currently there are more American Muslims in the United States than there are American Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or Jews. She uses this as an example of how the people of this country have taken a turn for the better. She looks to this as a fact that we open our arms and welcome with tolerance and compassion. These Muslims are allowed to practice their religion in safety and without fear of persecution, some even practicing in a U-Haul where they work.
In an attempt to seem more pragmatic, Eck moves on to speak on the challenges that are faced when dealing with the multicultural wonderland that she presents in her book. She praises steps taken by governmental institutions and private organizations, such as the interfaith movement, as steps in the right direction and hope for better communication between traditions in the future. She cites examples such as the U.S. Navy commission its first Muslim chaplain and open its first mosque in the 1990’s and the fact that there are presently more than three hundred temples in Los Angeles, home to the greatest variety of Buddhists in the world.
In the final throws of her book, Eck challenges the reader to consider what inviting this mixing bowl of traditions truly entails. She asks her reader to think on the advantages and transformations that would take place with the continual open ended invitation to other cultures and religions, naming examples like American electoral politics and healthcare. According to Eck, by mixing in these other religions, the American public will begin to see improvements in its policies and processes. In reading this though, one must wonder if Eck bites off more than is chewable by the American public because, as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Earlier in this paper there was mention of two Americas that seem to differ on the subject of diversity and acceptance. One of these Americas, and the one that Eck wrote the entirety of this book from, is what will be labeled the media America. This is the popular conception of the United States. This is the one you see on the television, welcoming immigrants to its shores with open arms and promises of acceptance and love. This is the one that generation Y is so obsessed with that it neuters out any concept of individuality. This is the America that is primed and polished by the MTV and made to look like the promise land. Eck seems to live in this world with no grounding in the actuality of what happens on the ground.
In this class, the subject of diversity in America is a central topic to the very fiber of the course. The class has poured and pondered over statistics and percentages showing the division in the American populace. If these figures have pointed out anything it is this. For every mosque that the media America builds, there are ten times that many in the other American who are frightened and confused by it. For every Buddhist temple in the Los Angeles, there are ten home owners in Nebraska who do not even know what a Buddhist is. This other America, what will be called the ground America, ranges anywhere from cautious enthusiasm to disinterest to violent rejection of the foreign influence. These are the people that make up the majority, people who are ok with immigrant adaptation as long as it does not affect them. When that button is pushed, reactions are garnered and the ground America rears its ugly head.
What people like Diana Eck and others who live in the media America seem to miss is idealism has its place, just as pragmatism does, but when the idealism overwhelms the people who it affects there will be a consequence, no matter how detached Eck may be from that consequence. Just because you polish a bullet to mirror shine, and it sparkles so very prettily to the point where you forget that it is a bullet does not stop it from being a bullet. No matter how desperately the media America wants people to be in love with the idea of blending all the races and religions in to one bland product, that can be sold at $9.99, there will be those in the ground America that will reject it. There are those who value individualism that were not raised by the television.
Right now there is an entire generation that never knew anything that did not come out of the media America. The media America is the gospel to people like Diana Eck, the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world, an amusement park that is taken for truth. It is an illusion created for the boredom killing business but given enough power to shape the way people live their lives. People think that the media America is reality and can act based on that, but no force of government in a county like this one will bend people to accept what is natural to reject. I will say it again. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Eck begins the novel with the backdrop of American immigration policy of the last sixty years, building on the past to show the progress made by the country in such a short amount of time. She goes on to recount her travels and experiences with people from around the county and the things she has discovered in her travels. She says that these encounters have broadened and deepened her own religious background and hopes to share that with the rest of the nation. She writes on the great influx of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians and how currently there are more American Muslims in the United States than there are American Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or Jews. She uses this as an example of how the people of this country have taken a turn for the better. She looks to this as a fact that we open our arms and welcome with tolerance and compassion. These Muslims are allowed to practice their religion in safety and without fear of persecution, some even practicing in a U-Haul where they work.
In an attempt to seem more pragmatic, Eck moves on to speak on the challenges that are faced when dealing with the multicultural wonderland that she presents in her book. She praises steps taken by governmental institutions and private organizations, such as the interfaith movement, as steps in the right direction and hope for better communication between traditions in the future. She cites examples such as the U.S. Navy commission its first Muslim chaplain and open its first mosque in the 1990’s and the fact that there are presently more than three hundred temples in Los Angeles, home to the greatest variety of Buddhists in the world.
In the final throws of her book, Eck challenges the reader to consider what inviting this mixing bowl of traditions truly entails. She asks her reader to think on the advantages and transformations that would take place with the continual open ended invitation to other cultures and religions, naming examples like American electoral politics and healthcare. According to Eck, by mixing in these other religions, the American public will begin to see improvements in its policies and processes. In reading this though, one must wonder if Eck bites off more than is chewable by the American public because, as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Earlier in this paper there was mention of two Americas that seem to differ on the subject of diversity and acceptance. One of these Americas, and the one that Eck wrote the entirety of this book from, is what will be labeled the media America. This is the popular conception of the United States. This is the one you see on the television, welcoming immigrants to its shores with open arms and promises of acceptance and love. This is the one that generation Y is so obsessed with that it neuters out any concept of individuality. This is the America that is primed and polished by the MTV and made to look like the promise land. Eck seems to live in this world with no grounding in the actuality of what happens on the ground.
In this class, the subject of diversity in America is a central topic to the very fiber of the course. The class has poured and pondered over statistics and percentages showing the division in the American populace. If these figures have pointed out anything it is this. For every mosque that the media America builds, there are ten times that many in the other American who are frightened and confused by it. For every Buddhist temple in the Los Angeles, there are ten home owners in Nebraska who do not even know what a Buddhist is. This other America, what will be called the ground America, ranges anywhere from cautious enthusiasm to disinterest to violent rejection of the foreign influence. These are the people that make up the majority, people who are ok with immigrant adaptation as long as it does not affect them. When that button is pushed, reactions are garnered and the ground America rears its ugly head.
What people like Diana Eck and others who live in the media America seem to miss is idealism has its place, just as pragmatism does, but when the idealism overwhelms the people who it affects there will be a consequence, no matter how detached Eck may be from that consequence. Just because you polish a bullet to mirror shine, and it sparkles so very prettily to the point where you forget that it is a bullet does not stop it from being a bullet. No matter how desperately the media America wants people to be in love with the idea of blending all the races and religions in to one bland product, that can be sold at $9.99, there will be those in the ground America that will reject it. There are those who value individualism that were not raised by the television.
Right now there is an entire generation that never knew anything that did not come out of the media America. The media America is the gospel to people like Diana Eck, the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world, an amusement park that is taken for truth. It is an illusion created for the boredom killing business but given enough power to shape the way people live their lives. People think that the media America is reality and can act based on that, but no force of government in a county like this one will bend people to accept what is natural to reject. I will say it again. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
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