My American Studies class continues to dive deeper into Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and recently explored the concept of the "Conversion Experience". For those of you who don't know, Puritans believed in predestination, and that one's behavior indicated their predestined fate. In order for puritans to be considered one of God's "chosen" (future Heaven residents), they had to have, and re-tell the story of how they truly found and felt God with in them. The Church then proceeded to vote on whether their conversion experience was legit, and whether or not they were accepted as "one of the faith". As we discussed this concept, our whole class gawked at the ridiculousness of this ritual. Many found it appalling that all Puritans firmly believed in "conversion experiences". How could someone just one day feel God? How could everyone around them buy their story? I found it just as ridiculous as everyone else until I realized we do the exact same thing with love.
Believe it or not, a HUGE part of American culture is centered around true love. Thousands of movies, TV shows, and books all re-tell unbelievable love stories that move the hearts of millions. We even have a holiday for it! For a lot of cultures, marriage is just something men and women do. It's something expected, and love isn't always a variable. But for Americans- love means everything. Just ask yourself: How many times have you seen The Notebook? (I counted six)
The point is, hundreds of years from now, people may not believe in love. We look back and say, "Those Puritans were CRAZY for believing in 'conversion experiences'. There is no way those actually happened". How is our idea of "love" any different? Love, just like God, is described as something that one just has to feel. It's indescribable, and for many, "you just know". Conversion experiences were in the hopes of everyone, and no one ever sat back and said, "Did you really just feel it one day or is that just a bunch of bull sh*t?" See any similarities yet?
I think you make a really good point here. Love, in our world, has become such presence in all outlets of our society. The more it is seen, the more it is talked about, and the more importance is placed on it. It's almost suprising. Americans put an incridble amount of importance on money and success. I think it is incredible that a society as materialistic as ours continues to put such value on something so intangible.
ReplyDeleteI think your connection with an obsession of "true love" in our society is great but most of all I love your connection with the puritans way of acceptance. You really found a strong bond between the two topics. I also found a connection with gut-decisions. Every now-and-then you need to make spur of the moment decisions and sometimes going with your gut is really the wrong path you should take. Great post
ReplyDeleteGood job blogging in general this quarter, Bridget and you're certainly right that love is as nebulous and elusive a term as the Puritan notion of faith. BUT, it'd be nice to tie your post to a text -- the Crucible, box office sales of The Notebook, the rise of reality shows that focus on love -- something to push your ideas into deeper contact with larger American values.
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