My students don't seem to think of the word pagan as pejorative--just
confusing. The word I try to ban from discussion of religion is
"superstition." Now _that's_ a non-scholarly word that closes the door to
trying to understand a phenomenon.
Phyllis
>>Sometimes I dream of a world in which the word 'pagan' was banished from
>>scholarly discourse.
>>
>
>Don't just dream - ban it! I do. Every semester I forbid my students to
>use the word. Usually they are trying to convey the idea of a Classical or
>Norse mythology, so I remind them of those words, and explain that the term
>Pagan may not be literally pejorative but it has come to be so in practice.
>And since we find such propaganda counter productive in today's society,
>"pagan" is a word we can do without.
>
>More important from my point of view, when they use the word "pagan", they
>think they are using an incompatible opposite to Christianity, and that
>really confuses them when it comes to Botticelli, Michelangelo et al.
>
>Best,
>Pippin
>
>Pippin Michelli, Ph.D
>Assistant Professor of Art History, St Olaf College
>http://www.stolaf.edu/people/michelli/index4.html
Phyllis G. Jestice
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