Or, as Len Sweet says, it’s like a swing on a child’s playground: we/they instinctively do two opposing things simultaneously–lean backwards and kick into the future. That’s PMism.

(of course, I’ve used images to convey ideas…another PM tendency..)

I was tempted to leave it there, but I won’t. The whole medieval and modern package cannot be unexperienced. Nor would anyone really want it to be. But that means we cannot truly return to any ancient style of thought even if that were desirable. (And frankly, I’ve studied the ancient mind and culture enough to seriously question its desirability.) Postmodernity is the inevitable reaction to the arrogant and overarching claims of modernity, but it offers no real hope and is not in and of itself a culture capable of sustaining society. I would call it transitional, but the question of destination is very much open.

Of course, I wasn’t at the conference, so I have no clue if that was Tony Jones’ perspective. But it is mine. Of course, since postmodernism is by nature highly fluid and (I believe) transitional, you aren’t going to find any single phrase or thought that describes it. You have to approach it tangentially and recognize that anything you say will be incomplete.