There's a problem with the structure

One of the things I find myself talking about most often in regards to literary theory, is the notion of structures. Everything in our world is built, in some sense or another, around a structure. There is the structure of the family, whereby we assume there should be a mother, father and a few kids. As most people are aware, this structure has come under radical critique in recent years because, namely, that structure is fading away. Lob whatever reasons you want at this reality, but it is there. Likewise, one of the ways to view the current Occupy Wall Street protests is to view it as an opposition to structures. This time, the structure coming under critique (to put it mildly) is the capitalistic structure that has given a few the upper hand in the economic sphere.

When people react to a structure in this way, it is usually because there is a deeply felt notion that the only way to change the structure is to rally against it. This is contrasted with the familial model I gave earlier, where that structure has changed due to numerous cultural forces that caused the critique to happen. Divorce, remarriage, non-U.S. family structures becoming more wide spread, whatever it may be, these have forced many to re-imagine the structure they have put so much faith into.

Something similar has been happening to the Protestant Christian church in the United States. Largely dubbed the "emergent church" this reaction against the perceived problems with the structure has resulted in a way of interacting with the faith that many deem "heretical" and "blasphemous." Being that I was one of those individuals who saw a problem with the structure and found solace in the emergent stream, I am not sympathetic towards calls of heresy. In my experience, the individuals involved in the emergent movement have always wanted to call the structure of Western Christianity into question in order to find the deeply hidden way of life that would lead to the world being changed.

Enter Peter Rollins.

I am waiting on my copy of Rollins' new book Insurrection to arrive in the mail, so I can eagerly devour it, much as I have his previous books. Rollins is an interesting figure, one who does not simply want to uncover something that has been hidden in a faulty structure, but to burn the structure down and start anew. Or at least that is what I am getting from the lead up to the release of Insurrection. I'll leave you with the videos below and after I get a chance to read through Insurrection, I will have some thoughts on it.