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Monday, January 16, 2023

Exploring a Tension

Tradition plays an important part in my life; I suspect this is true for many people. I enjoy most traditional American holidays and look forward to traditions my family of origin has, some of which are related to those holidays. And I also like many of the traditions, including the silly ones, that have helped sustain my marriage. 

Since preserving tradition is one important element of conservatism, I'm beginning an exploration of my long-held resistance to that word. To those out there who share my resistance, I'd like to hear how you deal with the tension between these concepts. To those out there who identify with the word conservative, which tradition(s) have you willfully abandoned? How difficult was that for you? 

In the nearly 2200 blog posts I've published, I'd estimate less than 5% have contained anything even remotely political. I've got no plans to change that. Politics have never had much appeal for me and these days I especially find the public discourse on politics too shrill as people become more and more tribal. But as I reflected recently on the tension between my enjoyment of tradition and resistance to conservatism, seeking help from all of you seemed a good place to start. Please share your thoughts. It's safer here than on talk radio. 

2 comments:

  1. Interesting. Here is the definition I found: 1. commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation.
    "proponents of theological conservatism"
    2.
    the holding of political views that favor free enterprise, private ownership, and socially traditional ideas.
    "a party that espoused conservatism"
    So, I find that the juxtaposition of staying with traditional values with opposition to change problematic for me. Why can't both exist at the same time? That would be a both/and instead of an either/or proposition. Food for thought.....

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    1. Ines; Thanks for the detailed comment. Often when I explore words I rely on the dictionary, as you did above. In this case, my exploration was more about my reflexive resistance to the word conservative and how my fondness for tradition pushes up against that resistance. I like what you've observed about allowing room for a both/and formulation, vs. the more oppositional either/or.

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