I've only skimmed Jenson's essay, but I immediately searched for the word "war", and not finding it, wonder if it's a sufficient map for the way forward.
Specifically, the world has seen at least two major downsides to living within a societally-supported (or -enforced) Grand Narrative:
1) The Story as implemented too often produced injustice. Slavery, exploitative colonialism, and vast inequalities of wealth and power have been successfully justified for centuries within the context of being necessary parts of the Grand Narrative. Jenson seems to briefly realize this in his Afterword, but his treatment there is too brief; it's a huge "should" to leave without a "how".
2) For most of the history of pre-modernity, there was not one Story, but multiple. As you've pointed out from Becker, this leads to worldview defense. The Christian Story must be violently protected from the Jewish Story, or the Muslim Story, or the Protestant Story from the Catholic Story.
I always thought it arrogant that so-called moderns wrapped themselves up in the label "modernity," which to me always carried an air of savagery, and the most bloody kind at that, which the just past century of history proved, I think, and the current century portends even more.
I've only skimmed Jenson's essay, but I immediately searched for the word "war", and not finding it, wonder if it's a sufficient map for the way forward.
Specifically, the world has seen at least two major downsides to living within a societally-supported (or -enforced) Grand Narrative:
1) The Story as implemented too often produced injustice. Slavery, exploitative colonialism, and vast inequalities of wealth and power have been successfully justified for centuries within the context of being necessary parts of the Grand Narrative. Jenson seems to briefly realize this in his Afterword, but his treatment there is too brief; it's a huge "should" to leave without a "how".
2) For most of the history of pre-modernity, there was not one Story, but multiple. As you've pointed out from Becker, this leads to worldview defense. The Christian Story must be violently protected from the Jewish Story, or the Muslim Story, or the Protestant Story from the Catholic Story.
The way forward cannot simply be the way back.
I always thought it arrogant that so-called moderns wrapped themselves up in the label "modernity," which to me always carried an air of savagery, and the most bloody kind at that, which the just past century of history proved, I think, and the current century portends even more.
Also loved this post. Thank you.