Theos-Talk Archives (January 2005 Message tt00605)

Cass,

If you send your comment to "anu@wordsmith.org", he might include it
in his weekly summary of comments received on that week's daily words.

I'm just one of his subscribers. (If you subscribe before you send
your comment, you'll get both the daily words and the weekly
communications summary).

John

*****

Dear Wordsmith

Presentism is the application of current ideals and moral standards to
interpret historical figures and their actions. For example, consider
Mr. John Teacher who caned pupils in his 1889 class. A presentist
would
say that Mr. Teacher engaged in unacceptable violence against children
while one with an opposing view would claim that since it was 
considered
OK to hit children at the time, Mr. Teacher isn't to be blamed.

AND SO THE MYTH IS PROPAGATED, NOT ONLY WERE WE HIT BY MR.TEACHER, BUT
IF WE TOLD MR DAD, WE GOT ANOTHER ONE. AND THEN WHEN WE ARE MR DAD WE
SAY, IT DIDNT HURT ME, SO IT WONT HURT MY CHILD. 
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT IT DID HURT THE CHILD IN MORE WAYS THAN
THE WELTS ON HIS/HER HANDS. BECAUSE SOMETHING IS MORALLY ACCEPTABLE
DOESNT MEAN IT IS MORAL.
CASS


John Knoderer <John@LiteracyCurriculums.com> wrote:


I found today's "word" interesting because it appears to describe part
of the recent discussion about CWL.

Forwarded for those people who enjoy studying words. 
(subscribe address: http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html )

*** FORWARDED ***

presentism (PREZ-uhn-tiz-uhm) noun

Evaluating past events and people by present-day values.

[From English present, from Middle English, from Old French, from
Latin
praesent- (stem of praesens), from present participle of praeesse (to
be
present before others), from prae- (pre-) + esse (to be).]

Presentism is the application of current ideals and moral standards to
interpret historical figures and their actions. For example, consider
Mr. John Teacher who caned pupils in his 1889 class. A presentist
would
say that Mr. Teacher engaged in unacceptable violence against children
while one with an opposing view would claim that since it was
considered
OK to hit children at the time, Mr. Teacher isn't to be blamed.

Absenteeism isn't an opposite of presentism. Rather, it refers to
chronic
absence, e.g. from work or school. Another sense of the term
presentism
is the idea that the prophesies of Scripture (especially of the
Apocalypse)
are now being fulfilled.

"In apocalyptic style, he (Jonathan Clark) says that presentism
'reaches
back into the past to silence its message'."
Stephen Howe; Fade to Blue; Independent (London, UK); Jul 12, 2003.

"Presentism is very often advanced in defense of America's founders.
It is
comforting to think that their generation, so distant in time from us,
lived in a condition of moral ignorance, and thus innocence, regarding
slavery. But that is not the case. Even Thomas Jefferson, some of
whose
statements exhibit an almost demented racism, could see clearly that
slavery utterly compromised the nation: 'I tremble for my country when
I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.'"
Henry Wiencek; Yale and the Price of Slavery; The New York Times;
Aug 18,
2001.

This week's theme: miscellaneous words.

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..................................................
..........................
In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when
placed
in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious.
You
are limited by how you see the world. -Vince Poscente, Olympian
(1961- )

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Pronunciation:
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http://wordsmith.org/words/presentism.ram

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