Tuesday, January 04, 2005
(10:54 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
A New Figure of the Militant
Today I am actually going to begin work on the paper tentatively entitled "Smoke and Mirrors: A Badiouian Reading of Wesley," but here's a thought: while Wesley does seem to fit many of the patterns that Badiou sees in Paul, what if the real modern figure of the political/religious militant is Joseph Smith? The man made up a religion and a book of scripture, but he tied it to an existing tradition in a way that would be plausible, at least to the type of people who were up for radical social upheaval -- plus we get the personal revelation that obviates the need to consult with established authorities, etc. Later on, there is even the tempering of the radical message in order to conform to societal pressures -- couldn't we say that non-polygamous Mormonism is to the original vision as the Pastorals are to the authentic letters of Paul?Is there some way to regain the subversive kernel of Mormonism? Or is there at least some way to take it seriously as a religious/political phenomenon? I'm not saying to believe in it by any means -- as I said, it's obviously made up. But why was it considered plausible? Why were people willing to uproot themselves and move into the desert for this? Why are millions of people around the world joining this religion? What advantages does the Mormon concept of open canon or progressive revelation offer?
