One line of thought has been bubbling on the back burner; TLBC is primarily about Western culture and how to save it... while having "a jolly time". Of late the following has been running through my brain;1) It is impossible to maintain a healthy national life without a common culture.2) It is impossible to maintain or develop a common culture without a common religion.3) We decided - as a people, at the very inception of our republic - to have no common religion.Discuss.(In other words, we've been trying for centuries to cobble together a culture out of the tattered remnants of other cultures with no central organizing principle other than individual liberty. Can it be done? It doesn't appear so.)
This is kind of fascinating to me. We seem to take for granted that our plurality of religions is the best way to do things. I am not saying that we should force people to convert to Catholicism - who says that Catholicism would have been our national religion if we picked one in the beginning? - but what is it that holds us together. Can anything else do it?
I would like to hear what you all have to say.
2 comments:
I've thought about this in the past as well. The religious mix is interesting but I've also thought about the whole, "free speech" debate. How dedicated are we to freedom of speech or religion that we are willing to let those free speakers degrade the religious freedom. Also, what qualifies a movement as a "religion," in terms of all of these New Age religions.
I think the commonly held religion is actually present...but its a faith in democracy and patriotism. The Hymns we sing are Star Spangled Banners and God Bless Americas.
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