A new wave of tradionalists and conservatives, sounds good right? Well, as a Christian I’d say “ofcourse!” yet there are crucial factors missing, making this movement extremely fragile.
When you grow up in a traditional Christian household (key word: Christian) there is no such thing is “traditionalism”. It doesn’t stand on its own; it’s a by-product of Christian norms, history, customs and ofcourse: the Early Church. Without the Church, there wouldn’t be a tradition to begin with. The Early Church for example has traditions rooted in the culture of the Early Christians. The traditional gender roles isn’t something that deserves to have daily debates on; it’s something you learn as you grow older, as well as the definition of feminine and masculine. Society can try to redefine anything they want, but there is one Truth and that’s the Only one you will hold on to.
See, the issue here is that the key factor of all is missing: where do you think Christians base their views on? Where is tradition coming from, outside of culture?
The answer is simple: the gospel; Christ. He is missing. He has taught us the meaning of love, balance of the genders, expectations, how to raise our children, which (political) takes are acceptable and which aren’t, how to behave and so on. “Renew your mind” as the gospel states; don’t focus on the worldy things and get caught up by whatever people have to say nowadays. As society is becoming more liberal, it only makes sense for people to want to hold onto something, a counter-movement. A “I don’t agree with this at all” mindset is growing, but is it for the good? A shallow answer is: yes. Looking deeper: not so sure.
If it takes the rise of liberalism to come up with a movement; where do you think they base their views on? Well, on being: 1) anti-liberal, 2) anti-woke, 3) anti-establishment 4) anti- anything that is being pushed onto people. If it takes the rise of something to become “something” it puts you in a luke-warm position where you’d follow anyone and anything that gives you a (fake) sense of belonging. It takes one mortal being to say the most common take: “Well, actually, yea, it is bad to push liberal takes onto young children” and there it is; people are ready to worship that person and make them the chosen one. If it takes political takes that you disagree with to become “something” it puts you in a position where your whole identity is based on “being against that one particular political movement/party that supports such ideas”. It’s an identity based on elements of Christianity yet it misses the “key ingredient”. It’s the same as following detailed step-by-step instructions and dismissing the crucial first steps to end up with a result that doesn’t really make sense. It’s almost like decorating a home, yet the house doesn’t stand on something, it’s not built on a proper foundation ready to collapse any moment; but the focus remains on the interior.
Back to Christianity: growing up as a Christian means following the One and the Only truth. Your views and your lifestyle (ofcourse we are all sinners but one must try daily to become a better follower of Christ) are based on your religion. Following Christ makes you automatically a “conservative” and “a traditionalist”. See how those two terms can’t stand on their own? Being Christian makes you those things; they are becoming synonyms linked to your identity as a Christian. The roots are found in something that isn’t luke-warm, overcame the Death and is the Only One worthy of worship: Christ. There is no need for a “new movement” because it already existed 2000 years ago.
Christless conservatives make traditionalism more of an aesthetic, holding on political takes and continue to have a “return to tradition” mindset. But you know what true tradition is? Returning to Christ and not make wordly ideologies your whole identity.
The goal has and always will be salvation. That is the end goal. To be saved by the One and Only; to look back to all the things you couldn’t have overcome without Him, to follow him no matter what and stand firm on your values and beliefs. It’s not a luke-warm movement based on what person X or society has to say. It is rooted by the only One who saves.
Christless conservatism remains to be a fragile group until Christ is fully embraced. Without it; it’s nothing but an counter-movement based on one-liners and hatred for anything society comes up for the upcoming decades.
