>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
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