The scientific revolution brought a lot of advancement and progression in new ideas to the world. It became the period of questioning traditional ideas, and raising voice and opinion of personal thought. Through this upbringing of new ideas, this created the start of society building a tolerance of new ideas, and becoming less judgmental.
Traditionally, society looked to the past for inspiration, wisdom, and guidance. Yet during the Enlightenment & Revolution (of the 1600’s-1800’s), coming up with different and innovative solutions for problems was something that was introduced. This was seen in the French Revolutions: the drive to overthrow present monarchy’s in hopes of bettering third estate life. This of course, was something abstract and abnormal for people to do. Rising against the superior power is an example of people not only creating new ideas in order to fix problems, but a reflection of the fact that the general public became open to hearing these new voices and opinions. One of these new voices was Thomas Paine. Not only a pro revolutionist writer, Paine also brought up the contentious idea of the time that tradition should be left in the past, and things need to change in order to adapt to humanity presently. He said, “man has no property in man; neither has any generation a property in the generations which are to follow” (Rights of Man 1791). This reinforces his idea that what worked for one generation, may not work for the next. Previous generations have no place in trying to govern the modern world as those ideas are a thing of the past. He often argued in his writings against Edmund Burke,(someone who still believed tradition was important), and their debate became the tone for the main political topic during their time. What was great during this time period, was that freedom of expression and opinion became very real. Writers like Paine could freely express their opinion and present how they feel about certain topics to society which in turn inspired people to take on their ideas or to challenge them. By doing this, people got used to the idea of others questioning tradition, and this built up more acceptance for new ideas being told and shared.
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“I think we have a more open minded generation. I like that and I feel like people are less likely to judge other people than they use to be.”-Sarah Gilbert
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When history reached the age of the Isms of the 1800's (1800-1880), after the Industrial revolution, people once again were not afraid to be vocal regarding what they believed in, and brought forth diverse ways of thinking. This is seen through the context of The Saddler Report; a report that strongly outlined the importance of workers rights. In the past, as a worker you listened and obeyed your boss. One's “rights” were really not of question. Through writings and movements like the Saddler Report, the idea of workers rights were accepted, and finally became a thing of reality. In this time period, we also were presented with Feminism, one of the biggest movements that is still incredibly present to this day. Feminism, like all the other advancements in this period, is the question of tradition, and the challenge of new ideas, that eventually formed more open minded acceptance over time and set society up on the road of becoming more non judgemental. The first woman to bravely make a stance about feminism was Jeanne Deroin. A seamstress who joined the socialist movement in the 1830's. She made lots of things accessible during her time for women, and did her best to get her word out about feminist ideals through tried books. She boldly declared her opinions when questioned on women's rights and stated in an interview, "It is precisely because woman is equal to man, yet not identical to him that she should take part in the work of social reform and incorporate in it those necessary elements that are lacking in man, so that the work can be complete" (Women, the Family, and Freedom). This was a bold thing to say in this period and unfortunately although her ideas weren't accepted immediately, she did help in creating a start to feminism today, and without her we may not have been so influenced to fight for freedoms of women. If it weren't for people challenging the ideas of things like workers rights, or women's rights, society wouldn't be where it is now in its acceptance of these ideals. These battles, although difficult and troubling, were the start of getting society where it is today in the common respect and understanding I believe it has now gained for newer ideas like feminism, and equality.
This pattern of new thoughts and expression booms through the Challenge to Tradition (1880-1945) time period. Bigger questions of how the the Universe came to be and the questioning of religion becomes something new and exciting to many. Darwin through his writings was able to spark up "Social Darwinism". Which brought up the discussion of evolution, God, and humans and whether these things were interconnected or not. People of all backgrounds chimed in with their opinion of how they thought the world came to be, or how it functioned. Scholars now listened to one another, as well as argued as these new ideas were strewn about. Of course this led to problem solving, trial and error, but ultimately advancement. People no longer were shut off to the idea of science against religion, but rather thought of the possibility of pairing them together, "people found that evolution could possibly be apart of God's plan, and they found beauty in the idea of all things living interrelated" (The West and The World 252). This is what looks like more harmonious thinking. Not everyone necessarily agreed with Darwin, but the world wasn't so foolish as to start killing people who went against religious opinion, or to treat them rashly. This I really believe was a turning point for science and theology to gain respect for one another, and even cross paths of thought. Of course there are some more aggressive people out there like Friedrich Nietzsche, who wrote very controversial works on modern Christianity, and whether religion improve ourselves, or limits ourselves. But these ideas shouldn't be viewed as so negatively by religious people, but instead ways on which the church can improve on its communication with people who are more secular, and advance the world forward in its hunger for knowledge. Years ago, if you were to question faith, you be shunned and probably punished, but this becomes a new age of not only people questioning traditional ideas, and common known “truth” but being able to express it as well. I believe that these things too, contributed to our world not being as judgemental of others thoughts and opinions, and being more open minded.
More ideas come in to play when we see the second wave of feminism in The post-45 WorldThis is when we are now introduced to "Women's Liberation", a movement to make women aware of the oppression they were under. People like Betty Friedan bravely spoke out about their true desires of being a woman and she honestly said, "I want something more than my husband and m children and my home" (The Feminine Mystique 1963). Obviously those were the regular things that women were involved in during the 1940's and now she raises a point that women can do a lot more than just tend to a family. Like first wave feminism, it wasn't easy for Friedan's idea to catch on immediately, with time feminism has grown but it has taken a while. We also had influential people like Bonhoeffer who didn't challenge religion itself, but the means in which how it was ran. Bonhoeffer specifically touches on the importance of being nonjudgemental, especially within the church. He writes, “The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving” (Mysteries in the Theology). This demonstrates that Bonhoeffer is a real forward thinker. He knows that the best way for humans to collaborate and be at peace with each other is to be non judgemental. This doesn't mean you sacrifice your own opinions and ideals, but rather it means that you can try to be open and respectful towards others opinions and their way of life. I think that in order for society to grow and change, it's ideas must be challenged, and this will lead people to being more accepting and understanding of others new ideas.
Finally we have our.This is when we are now introduced to "Women's Liberation", a movement to make women aware of the oppression they were under. People like Betty Friedan bravely spoke out about their true desires of being a woman and she honestly said, "I want something more than my husband and m children and my home" (The Feminine Mystique 1963). Obviously those were the regular things that women were involved in during the 1940's and now she raises a point that women can do a lot more than just tend to a family. Like first wave feminism, it wasn't easy for Friedan's idea to catch on immediately, with time feminism has grown but it has taken a while. We also had influential people like Bonhoeffer who didn't challenge religion itself, but the means in which how it was ran. Bonhoeffer specifically touches on the importance of being nonjudgemental, especially within the church. He writes, “The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving” (Mysteries in the Theology). This demonstrates that Bonhoeffer is a real forward thinker. He knows that the best way for humans to collaborate and be at peace with each other is to be non judgemental. This doesn't mean you sacrifice your own opinions and ideals, but rather it means that you can try to be open and respectful towards others opinions and their way of life. I think that in order for society to grow and change, it's ideas must be challenged, and this will lead people to being more accepting and understanding of others new ideas.
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| Graph showing change in acceptability regarding homosexuality |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQmJvpF5ASg
Citations
Haberman, Arthur. The West and the World. Toronto: Gage Learning, 2002. Print.
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