Sumblog 9

A Better Brand of Berger Makes a Nation-State Stronger

In class, we discussed Berger's argument that the strongest cultures have a balance between fundamentalism and relativism. Both fundamentalism and relativism are ideal types, which no culture can be entirely one or the other. That would be impossible! If a culture was entirely fundamental, there would actually be no fundamentalism; without new and changing ideals, the resistance against them (fundamentalism) would not exist. If a culture was completely relativist, there would be no guidelines or ideas of right and wrong. There would be a massive feeling of anomie throughout the culture. This brings it back to Berger's argument; a strong culture is a mix/balance of these two extremes. The culture would exhibit relativism by accepting new, changing ideas and showing tolerance towards the non-traditional. For example, the existence of the sign below, is a testament to America's relativism. It reinforces the relativist idea that a belief in God is not the only way to live, it is not an immutable truth.

 

Fundamentalism would be exhibited by maintaining a set of morals and rules that are held as truths (i.e. our systems of laws; instead of looking at each crime case by case, we have set truths which become our laws). An example of this is depicted in the image below. The idea that "There can be only one!" is itself fundamentalism, because the "one" is seen as the only truth/option.

 

I agree completely with this model/idea of a strong culture. If our country was more fundamentalist, there wouldn't be as many different sects of religion present and accepted as we have today. There could even be only one religion accepted and every other idea practiced would be prosecuted. On the other side of the coin, if America was more relativist, we might not have judicial system. If someone was to commit murder, we might see it as his/her own version of what one can and can't do, instead of deeming it right or wrong.