They don’t put his picture on the mantel

Or light incense and candles before it

But they adore him, venerating him above all

They are devoted to his ideas

His philosophy is the final word

His words are beyond question

Derrida has opened their eyes

Showing them the way

Questioning him is madness

It is the height of arrogance

It is heresy and blasphemy

How could Derrida be wrong?

They would contend.

But he was a fellow human being

Limited and prone to error

Surely, even a sage has some deficiencies

And so must this high priest of postmodernism

I worry and ask myself:

Veneration, devotion, and idol worship

What do they have to do with philosophy?

A philosophy class is not a church or a mosque

Why turn students into true believers and devotees?

Is this the way to nourish hungry young souls?

Why discourage criticism and discussion?

Is this the beginning of a new dark age?

Or am I being too negative? 

-Rotterdam, Netherlands