tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post4651996479808853161..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: IT is Happening Here (Re-reading The Handmaid’s Tale)Paul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-74058296049532609272011-06-04T10:22:31.881-06:002011-06-04T10:22:31.881-06:00Interesting post. I encourage you and Joe Crespin...Interesting post. I encourage you and Joe Crespino to have Harry Dent's daughter Ginny Brant on your various campusses to respond to your musings here. The daughter of a Nixon operative, a Trustee of the SBC International Mission Board, she could be an interesting lens through which to continue your reevaluation of the 90's.<br /> You may also want to monitor any discussion that may develop in reference to Mark Noll's TNR review at public policy forum of baptistlife.com/forumsfoxofbamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10329204323614353093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-77871729800913218162011-06-02T15:53:47.073-06:002011-06-02T15:53:47.073-06:00I bought this book about a year ago after a ringin...I bought this book about a year ago after a ringing endorsement from my friend Brian Ward. Have still been meaning to dig into it. Your post makes me want to dig the book out of the pile of "to read."Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-74014161798341377522011-05-31T22:05:45.082-06:002011-05-31T22:05:45.082-06:00I've taught this book many times, on and off i...I've taught this book many times, on and off in courses in public universities in Minnesota and Tennessee, since the 1980s. It has been interesting to watch the students' frame of reference for thinking about the bad guys change over time, and it definitely feels increasingly dated. However, the question I always ask students to think about-- what parts are plausible, what parts are not-- has not yet failed to teach well and spark good discussion. It is true that some of the implied critique of the religious right is a bit cartoonish or otherwise unfair, but this is good fodder for discussion in my experience. <br /><br />I would like to call attention to what, for me, is by far the greatest strength of the book-- the scathing critique of academic complacency in the face of oppression and suffering that is the major point of the "Historical notes" that appear at the end of the book. I do not feel that this part is dated at much, if at all, and it is the most important reason I keep coming back to the book.mhulsethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10811391279325863814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-60894539552352488992011-05-31T11:17:19.015-06:002011-05-31T11:17:19.015-06:00Thanks for your response--and very interesting to ...Thanks for your response--and very interesting to hear your experiences teaching the book. While only a few of my students (most of whom think of themselves as politically progressive or, in a few cases, libertarianish) are familiar with the labels Christian Right or Religious Right, they do tend to think of religion as having a net conservative influence on politics. Their point of reference (no doubt owing to the religious landscape of St. Louis) often is the Catholic Church's stance on abortion.Steven P. Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02068897035889270986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-38065075255407803372011-05-31T09:49:51.295-06:002011-05-31T09:49:51.295-06:00Interesting post, Steven! I actually taught The Ha...Interesting post, Steven! I actually taught The Handmaid's Tale last fall to an all-female first-year seminar, and I was surprised to discover that most of them found Atwood's depiction of a fundamentalist society to be very outlandish and unbelievable. (They thought the techno-future in Bladerunner was more relevant to their times, although I guess Atwood does have the digitization of library books as an ominous sign).<br /><br />When I asked them what political issues might have motivated Atwood to write the book, they were far more aware of divisions among feminists than of the existence and (former?) political power of the Christian Right. Maybe because they're largely liberals from the Northeast, or maybe because they're 17-18 years old, but their political world has been shaped almost entirely by opposing Bush and the Iraq War, and the election of Obama. They had barely heard of the Christian Right and knew nothing of this history. Interestingly, very few in the seminar took religion to mean political-Christian-fundamentalism. Instead they took pains (and several wrote papers about this) to separate the "good" parts of religion from the "bad" interpretations and practices in The Handmaid's Tale.Gale Kennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09051295784299114920noreply@blogger.com