@ReaderJohn Guenon was an interesting character, kind of a prototype of the contemporary "seeker"; tried a variety of esoteric spiritualities: theosophy, masonic orders, christian gnostic "churches", fringe-y Islam. I think the idea of spiritual tradition as a foundation-stone of a society was much more important to him than the truth or falsity a particular tradition.
@JohnBrady @ReaderJohn Thanks for this — not familiar with Guénon. Tom Holland's forthcoming book will argue otherwise, I gather: that the seemingly anti-tradition ethos since the 1960s is actually an internecine argument within a still wholly (unacknowledged) Christianized outlook. (But of course the experience of the outlook is the same either way!)
@ReaderJohn @JohnBrady @ablerism Mattew Rose covers Guénon and tradition very nicely here. (Excerpt here.)
“We need not agree with Guénon in order to recognize that he was right about the dismantling of tradition in liberal societies. He understood the civilizational calamity, to say nothing of the human cruelty, of making each generation a stranger to those that precede and follow it.…
But in imagining a primordial tradition, existing beyond the flow of time, Guénon, paradoxically, drained human life of its meaning. … Guénon’s vision of eternity prevented him from seeing any real human beings, whose unfolding lives form the drama of history.”
@ReaderJohn Which Christianity, Constantine or Jesus? I think the Christianity that 90% of the world knows is of Constantine, which is why I think any notion of "Christian Nationalism" is really just it's true nature. We also need to gain a better of understanding of what is religion, which is that to which we bind our identities to. The real problem is too much religion and religion that is used by the Powers to build and maintain power. All of this is within a context of what is the normalcy of civilization and our ultimate evolutionary threat.
@tinyroofnail Yes, I "clipped" that First Things article (i.e., downloaded it as a markdown file) when it first came out.
@tinyroofnail Now that was a fascinating article. I've seen Guénon’s name floating around but this is the first time I've read any introduction to his thought. Thanks for the link!
@JohnBrady Ha! I was mixing Rene Guenon up with Rene Girard (scapegoating mechanism) while scratching my head over this thread @ReaderJohn @tinyroofnail @jabel
@annahavron I only know Girard as a name that the righties were batting around a while ago. Probably not his fault.
@JohnBrady I only know of his scapegoating theory (from a theology class) which would be uncomfortable, I would think, for the right wing. But perhaps I am wrong in that assumption.
@jabel It’s a good one! I was really happy to be pointed back to it. One of the best things about micro.blog + commonplace blogging
@annahavron Funny. I thought of Girard as well, but I think it’s because I mostly know him through this exact type of appreciative critique essay. George Hunsinger’s 1998 essay “The Politics of the Nonviolent God” treats Girard in precisely this way. I posted this brief example from that essay and love the way he asks and pursues his questions