When we have embraced a hundred heresies as the orthodoxy of the future, the only possible radicalism left is tradition

As I pondered this statement it dawned on me that through nothing more than cultural attrition I had become radicalized. I am now a progressive because the traditions, the so-called “guns and religion” that I tenaciously cling to in a mindset caricatured as bigotry and ignorance have been abandoned by the mainstream.  It made me smile to think that, after the reclassification of societal norms, I was relegated to punk status.

Tradition – the new radicalism.  Let me introduce you to this alternative lifestyle marked by the preservation and practice of our spiritual and cultural traditions. These are important because they build on the collective wisdom of the past.  As is often said, if we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it and in the same way traditions – of a family, of a culture or of a nation—preserve the cumulative wisdom and knowledge of our ancestors and forward it to future generations that will benefit from, and incrementally influence, it. But today’s traditional thinking is much more than that.

Neo-traditionalism understands the value of tradition in a society that carelessly abandons it and does so almost as a religious exercise. Tradition provides culture, community, spirituality and identity—all items that modern American life attempts to outsource if not eradicate.  One may make the case that many social ills — crime, drug abuse, suicide, promiscuity, indebtedness and even environmental destruction can be linked to the erosion of tradition mostly because the loss of its provisions (community, identity, etc) leave a void that is invariably filled with destructive counterfeits.

There’s a potent National Geographic documentary I encourage others to watch called “God Grew Tired of Us” about the lost boys of the Sudan and their immigration to America.  In many ways it is also a mirror on our own society and when I watch it I can only feel shame for our empty and bankrupt culture.  In one scene the tall and stately dark Africans are sitting at a table in their pathetically small apartment in Syracuse eating dinner. They’ve opted to eat the macaroni and cheese in the Dinka way—with their hands. Why? One of them explains that to do so maintains their identity and purpose, saying “…because as you know, a person without culture is like a human being without land. So it is good to keep our tradition.” Despite the tragedies of their boyhood, the men are smiling, happy and excited about the new life afforded them in the U.S. feeling somewhat guilty that their relatives and friends back in Africa continue to wait in a refugee camp. But as the film progresses, our culture of work, isolation, stupefying entertainment and frivolity presses in and manifest as the wasteland that it is.  We are the proverbial rich country of Western civilization where everyone has an expensive watch on their wrist—-but no time!  And we pass this form of death on to our children daily.

But the man or woman of our new radicalism tries to reclaim the lost heirlooms of tradition, and to do so means charging against the grain of a society gone mad with celebrity worship, materialism and a thousand other forms of idolatry. Granted, some traditions need to be abandoned or re-evaluated; but I would argue that the bulk of tradition has served us well and we do ourselves, especially our progeny, a disservice (to put it mildly) when we abandon it.

What are these traditions and how do we reclaim them? The answer to this question requires a series of essays each targeting a specific aspect of life where essential traditions are being abandoned. I will look at the traditions of the past, why they were of benefit then and what to do about it now.