From Monoculture to Polyculture

     In the essay "From Monoculture to Polyculture" by Paul Custodio Bube, Bube discusses the conflict of whether or not it is good or bad for cultures to mix and coexist together and whether or not culture should become homogenous in places like America.  Ultimately he comes to a conclusion that "the richest possibilities for community will only be attained when we achieve a diversity that extends beyond all forms of anthropocentrism as well as ethnocentrism." In other words concluding that all cultures and communities should coexist in a polycultural world that would fully live up to God's "fullest realization."  I found myself very drawn in by this topic initially because of the way that Bube decides to begin the essay.  Starting off the first paragraph with a seemingly unrelated metaphor of the geography of Kansas seemed odd to me, but later helped tie together the essay and create a perfect example of his overall idea.  The paradox between monoculture and polyculture in relation to the other paradoxes he exemplified such as fundamentalism and positivism created a very static tone to the essay and truly illustrated his concept.  I found myself very drawn in by his point that though fundamentalism and positivism seem like "polar opposites," they are actually very similar.  The topic that most interested me was the idea of fundamentalism.  Reading about the ideas of fundamentalism and the concept of the bible as a literal interpretation and a "perfect" translation of the word of God was baffling to me.  My perspective had always been so much different and it was interesting and perplexing to read about such a contrasting paradigm.