Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Enchanted Deconstruction

Enchanted Deconstruction

Last updated on: July 26, 2010 at 5:31 am by George Elerick

3 Comments

Enchanted Deconstruction 2010-07-26T05:31:37+00:00 George Elerick

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Deconstruction is an approach, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, which rigorously pursues the meaning of a text to the point of exposing the contradictions and internal oppositions upon which it is apparently founded and showing that those foundations are irreducibly complex, unstable, or impossible. It is an approach that may be deployed in philosophy, literary analysis, or other fields.”

The word deconstruction tends to conjure up a lot of different responses. Some fear it. Others embrace it, still yet, there is hope in deconstruction. I think though from the variety of responses across the internet some have become disillusioned with the art of deconstruction. But, what if it doesn’t have to lead to disillusionment?

Some might think it is all about disenchanting the subject of enquiry.
But, what if we deconstruction could be about restoring the enchantment within a field of study?

I think deconstruction as a science is a practice that could lead to nowhere. Since the 20’s, it has been to distance itself from modernism, a much needed shift I think in terms of social progress. but the days of deconstruction a science I think should be numbered. as an art, well, there is definitely room for growth there.

if i were to define enchanted deconstruction i would say its the process of trying to understand the enchantment of a subject. with the hope of finding ways to utilize that enchantment to make the world a better place. so let’s use politics as an example. when we deconstruct politics it is still the goal to ‘get to the bottom of it’ but not for the sake of destruction, but for the hope toward self-global-objective discovery.

in finding what makes a topic enchanted we can then approach subjects with an wide-eyed expectancy rather than the stereo-typical cynicism that we get labeled with as deconstructionists. the enchanted aspect of the deconstruction means we look for the pieces of what we’re deconstructing that are still valuable and still can add value back into society.

sometimes deconstructionists get labeled as ‘all-or-nothing’ people when approaching the process of deconstruction. this is what i call the science of deconstruction, which i think needs to be left to the wayside. the art of enchanted deconstruction leaves necessary space for the child within to be fueled by the discoveries that can have equally integrated outcomes. so, how does this work in terms of christianity?

I think essentially, in terms of philosophy, the church needs to be against the Church (e.g., or politics against Politics). if we believe in growth or progress than to leave room for the church, politics or fill-in-the-blank of the future. to be one step ahead of ourselves (or better said: informed by the future) we must be willing to be against ourselves and not in the sense of aggressive hegemony, but one of realistic curiosity of what we might look like in the unknown future.

Jesus used the image of old wineskins and new wineskins. How one doesn’t really go with the other. imagery about imagery that is counter-cultural to the other. and so in these terms for the church to embrace this new enchanted deconstruction it must be willing to ask what are the things that still speak to society today and can help re-enchant society as a whole.

the danger is that we keep things for the sake of tradition. when you participate in any sort of estrangement and make any object/yourself a foreigner to the place of origin there is radical space for reinvention and reformation. i think enchanted deconstruction is in a prime place to help inform the Church of their future. this coupled with the transformative offerings of post-structural christianity (a previous post) we can begin asking the really difficult questions.

but also rather than simply look at the theological offering and trimmings that might need to take place, the enchanted deconstruction of any subject is about reinstiling a radical child-like enthusiasm for global change…when we do this, then the word impossible is a word in the past dictionaries of our deconstruction…

Previous Post

July 24, 2010

Praying On Our Knees: On Being a Christian Atheist

Next Post

July 26, 2010 Welcome to the Future of Mainline Protestantism!

Recent Comments

3 Comments | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Author Interviews Battle Over the Body and Blood of Christ Bearing Beauty Book Reviews Christian Education christian spirituallity christianity Christmas Church Church Leadership Contemplation Creation Care Death and Dying Death Penalty Disruptive Change Disruptors Series Easter Education Evolution and Faith Future of Progressive Christianity Gun Violence Health & Wellness Holy Week Interfaith Israel-Palestine Leading Differently Lent LGBTQ Living with Cancer Meditations on the Cross Mental Illness millennials Mimetic Mondays Monday Meditations Movie Reviews New Monasticism Pando Populus Parenting Patheos 10+1 Q&A Series PC(USA) Politics Pop Culture Practical Theology Series Prayer progressive christian Race Relations Reformation religion Religion and Politics Religion in America Rethink Church Social Justice Spirituality Spirituality of the Body Stump a Scholar Technology and Faith Thanksgiving Theodicy Trust Me Church Uncategorized Why I'm Still Christian Youth Ministry

Select a Month December 2025 April 2025 January 2025 September 2023 September 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 May 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Why was Daniel thrown into the lion’s den?

Select your answer to see how you score.

He prayed to God He stole from the treasury He refused to bow to the king He spoke against the king