Very poignant and necessary piece. An incredible amount of intelligence and talent, usually from zealous converts or those interested in the revival of their church (with a small "c") is totally wasted and squandered in vindication over people who would otherwise be their friends in this conflict. Rhetorical and military conflicts between sects was the most politically pressing question that my ancestors had an interest in, but the situation has changed since things like the Thirty Years War. Prevailing against the things that threaten all of our existences is much more feasible than the victory of one church over another. Either we hang together or we hang separately.
I think that ultimately, for better or worse, the Orthodox are simply too few and far between to be relevant in American politics, at this moment; but I would argue that, for the most part, my thesis applies to nearly every religion. Christianity’s representation of such is more pronounced, because of the wildly differing demographics involved, whereas many other religions are fairly homogenous. Islam is really the only other comparable vector, and one does see very liberal, nominally-muslim individuals in the West; and much of this comes from the desire to simply vote in ways which benefit their own demographic.
Good piece, and I especially concur with the call to unity.
However, I, and many people who are both smarter and wiser than I would agree, that not only is modern progressivism a natural (maybe even inevitable) evolution of historical progressivism, and not a subversion or aberration of it, but so is modern wokeness a natural evolution of historical egalitarianism.
Indeed, both progressivism and woke are just egalitarianism taken to their logical extremes.
"The Germany of the 1930s and 1940s, which generated an awe-worthy economic, industrial, and military powerhouse" It was drastically inferior in each of these categories to any of the USA, the USSR, and the British Empire. That is why it was crushed.
"All of these issues are demographic; due to both racial and sex-based shifts in the population."
Sex-based shifts in the population? Women have been the same share of the human population in all of human history.
"As I argued in my aforementioned piece — which I do recommend — diversity brings about the end of religious unity"
There was more religious diversity on the ethnically-homogenous American frontier of 1800 than there was the length and breadth of medieval Europe.
Very poignant and necessary piece. An incredible amount of intelligence and talent, usually from zealous converts or those interested in the revival of their church (with a small "c") is totally wasted and squandered in vindication over people who would otherwise be their friends in this conflict. Rhetorical and military conflicts between sects was the most politically pressing question that my ancestors had an interest in, but the situation has changed since things like the Thirty Years War. Prevailing against the things that threaten all of our existences is much more feasible than the victory of one church over another. Either we hang together or we hang separately.
It would have been nice had you addressed the Orthodox in this, who are heavily represented in this online ecosystem. Otherwise excellent
I think that ultimately, for better or worse, the Orthodox are simply too few and far between to be relevant in American politics, at this moment; but I would argue that, for the most part, my thesis applies to nearly every religion. Christianity’s representation of such is more pronounced, because of the wildly differing demographics involved, whereas many other religions are fairly homogenous. Islam is really the only other comparable vector, and one does see very liberal, nominally-muslim individuals in the West; and much of this comes from the desire to simply vote in ways which benefit their own demographic.
Great piece as always!
Good piece, and I especially concur with the call to unity.
However, I, and many people who are both smarter and wiser than I would agree, that not only is modern progressivism a natural (maybe even inevitable) evolution of historical progressivism, and not a subversion or aberration of it, but so is modern wokeness a natural evolution of historical egalitarianism.
Indeed, both progressivism and woke are just egalitarianism taken to their logical extremes.
"The Germany of the 1930s and 1940s, which generated an awe-worthy economic, industrial, and military powerhouse" It was drastically inferior in each of these categories to any of the USA, the USSR, and the British Empire. That is why it was crushed.
"All of these issues are demographic; due to both racial and sex-based shifts in the population."
Sex-based shifts in the population? Women have been the same share of the human population in all of human history.
"As I argued in my aforementioned piece — which I do recommend — diversity brings about the end of religious unity"
There was more religious diversity on the ethnically-homogenous American frontier of 1800 than there was the length and breadth of medieval Europe.
You don't make much sense.
I think lasch covered some of this ground in “the true and only heaven”