Rick Darby of Reflecting Light asks this very intriguing question in a thread over at VA's, as well as asking for answers. And I presume he means he's seeking an answer from anyone willing to attempt to give him one. Well, I'm willing, so here goes...
Rick writes:
Can I be a traditionalist conservative while admiring the Vedantic tradition of India (the Upanishads, not all the superstitious rubbish that modern Hinduism has accreted) and Buddhism? Can I be a traditionalist conservative who doesn't believe in the literal truth of the New Testament, the physical resurrection of Jesus, or the doctrine that Jesus sacrificed himself to save mankind from its sins? A traditionalist conservative whose spiritual practice is meditation and trying to be a decent person?
TM answers:
While my familiarity with Buddhism is very lacking, and of the Vedantic tradition of India much more so, I think the larger question Rick is asking is whether he, or any other American, can be considered a traditionalist conservative while not believing in the Christian doctrine of Chirst's deity.
I think the answer to the question is an emphatic yes, as long as such an individual does not fail to recognize the great influence of Christianity on Western culture, and the establishment of the United States as one step in the progress of that Western culture. Many people, in denying the doctrines of Christianity also deny its positive and direct impact on Western civilization and this nation, or at least try to minimize it to the extent that they claim an equal influence from all religions on the foundation of America, which I think cannot be supported with any substantial amount of factual evidence.
So I think people who embrace teachings of religions other than Christianity while rejecting Christian teachings, so long as they don't try to discredit Christianity's dominant influence on the development of Western culture and tradition, but instead recognize and acknowledge it, can indeed be traditionalist conservatives, and effective apologists for it. From what I've read of Rick (which isn't much to this point, I shamefully admit), I haven't come away with the impression that he seeks to minimize the influence of Christianity on Western civilization.
I'm also thinking in terms here of Kristor L.'s Apologetic comments to that VFR thread where he says that Christianity has historically not been afraid to acknowledge certain doctrines of other religions.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Can one be a Traditionalist Conservative, while not being Christian?
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2 comments:
Terry,
Thank you for offering your answer to my question. I wasn't trying to bait VA, whom I admire greatly, or her readers. But I want to know where I stand with people who call themselves traditionalist conservatives, which despite my antipathy for labels, probably comes closest to where my head is at.
It would be idiotic to deny that the Christian religion has played an important part in what we call Western civilization. There is much that I admire in Christianity -- just to take one example, the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most beautiful speeches I know of, and it would be no less so if the human Jesus never existed. Or for another example, the monasteries and convents -- corrupted at some times and places, but nonetheless offering a marvelous example of the beauty of the contemplative life.
I do not call myself a Christian because I know something of the history of the church: not just its atrocious offshoots like the Inquisition, but that we have next to no actual evidence about Jesus or the Fathers of the Church -- I mean the really early ones, not the later ones like Augustine -- only what unknown writers at unknown times said about them.
Personally, I wish the neo-Platonists, so savagely persecuted by the Christian church, had triumphed. They were more mystical, more in touch with the Divine.
But I think every good society needs a spiritual tradition, as long as it doesn't prohibit or actively discourage other spiritual practices. Even Islam has its beautiful aspects, which I have written about occasionally in my blog; it's the totalitarian and political aspects of Islam that must be resisted.
Anyway, this non-Christian has no problem accepting the part that the various types of Christianity have to play in Western civilization. Every time I visit a nearly completely irreligious country like Britain, I am grateful to live in a country where at least many people still acknowledge in some form that this world of appearances is not the truest world, although on its own level it requires important moral choices.
The question is, can Christian-based conservatives accept me?
Rick, I responded over at my blog but to reiterate, I personally have no problem with your beliefs, though mine differ.
My response was along the same lines as Terry's.
I don't presume to speak for other 'Christian-based conservatives' but I truly think most would respond as Terry has, and as I have.
I think most Christians are sensitive to having our faith attacked, since our religion is being driven from the public sphere; that tends to make us more defensive, but as long as my faith is not being attacked I am content to live and let live.
I do know something about world religions; I was a seeker (before I became a believing Christian) so I studied most of the faiths and belief systems.
Many of us who are Christians haven't been lifelong Christians. I think the common belief is that we are all narrow, but many of us have practiced other paths at some point in our lives.
-VA
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