Thursday, April 23, 2015

Nova Effect = Cross Pressures

In Smith on page 62 he talks about the Nova Effect and how cross pressures have turned from the more medieval model of the buffered self to a more porous self. I think this is most people today and we are have kind of become open to more things that lead us away from our faith. This section in Smith is titled The Nova Effect: Fragilization from Cross-pressures, where fragilization means that your particular faith begins to come into question and becomes fragile. This is the result of the cross pressures from the Nova Effect. We see these everyday in our culture with music, TV, and many more things. A lot of peoples faith nowadays comes into question when confronted about it. Some people are either uneducated about their faith or just simply don't care and they begin to question it. I think it is good to have a buffered self but also at the same time can have negative effects. You don't want to close yourself off to so many things that you begin to dismantle relationships. People need to find an equal medium of the two and be concrete with their opinions and what they do and don't allow into their lives.

6 comments:

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  2. The idea of fragilization is not necessarily a bad thing; the language implies a weakening of one's faith, as to be "fragile" is to be delicate and susceptible to outside (cross) pressures. This is simply not the case, however. While it is true that fragilization can cause a general feeling of discomfort (i.e. malaise) and weaken certain convictions, these effects are not entailed by it; like steel tempered in a forge, questioning can lead to the strengthening of one's personal beliefs. Isn't it better for a belief to have some sort of substance behind it?

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  3. I feel like in this age of fragilization, those who ARE devout have stronger faiths than those in the past. That is because even in the face of doubt and pressures to not have their beliefs, they still choose to have their faith. Back in ye old days, people really didn't have a choice, they either had their faith, or they were considered heathens. Nowadays, it is okay if you have doubts. As such, if you've faced other options for belief and still stand firm in your beliefs, there is something commendable about that in my opinion

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  4. I agree with Jacob on the fact that ones beliefs should be challenged otherwise one could become consumed in their own beliefs and would potential become closed minded therefore growth wouldn't occur, but in the same since I agree with Christian on the end with one being faced with outside possibly negative opinions and still stand firm in their beliefs. This shows the nature of balance needed in our own life. In every thing we do and decision we make there should be a balanced mind.

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  5. I agree that having so many options has led us away from our faith. It hard to believe in something with all the cross pressures we face today. One of the things I believe that has led us away from our faith is the scientific theories and discoveries. This can lead to an invulnerability and distance towards God. The nova effect pushes us to explore new options and some of these new options can be following a more scientific outlook rather than an religious one.

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  6. I agree that having so many options has led us away from our faith. It hard to believe in something with all the cross pressures we face today. One of the things I believe that has led us away from our faith is the scientific theories and discoveries. This can lead to an invulnerability and distance towards God. The nova effect pushes us to explore new options and some of these new options can be following a more scientific outlook rather than an religious one.

    ReplyDelete