Translating Original Sin into Secular Terms Is it even possible?

[Michie]

Oren Cass’s First Things Lecture in Washington, D.C., on March 4 addressed the topic “Constructing Conservatism in the Secular Age.” The talk’s core argument was that American conservatism’s reliance on religious faith to make its central values arguments collides with the growing secularization of U.S. culture, causing it to lose ground. He suggests that religion hitherto provided a “form” for that value content but that form is increasingly incomprehensible to today’s Americans. Insisting on the abiding value of the content, Cass is looking for another “form” in which to embody it, hoping that some sort of notion of an intergenerational compact sustained by the sheer wonder about our being and the contingency of our existence might work to render those abiding values and traditions better understood by people today. People, he claims, are still searching for moral values; the fact that the appeal exercised by liberal moralism — dressed up as wokeism, climate fundamentalism, and the faith people put in the “science” of anti-COVID regimes — proves their desire, even if those “solutions” ultimately prove to be false religions. The point is people want some morality, even if it is not the morality traditionally derived from religion. (A link to a video of Cass’s lecture is here.)

I would beware of a kneejerk religious response dismissive of Cass’s concerns. The scorecard of the past 40 years suggests religion is losing ground, even in an America that once thought itself an exception to secularization. Shutting one’s eyes to that phenomenon will not make it disappear. Whether Cass’s diagnosis is correct is another question, but asking the question is worthwhile.

In the Q&A, editor R.R. Reno suggested American conservatism traditionally found expression in the “3Fs”: faith, family, and flag. Cass thought conservatism hitherto developed its understandings of family and flag as subcategories of faith. He proposed a different paradigm: the 3Fs as co-equals (rather than two as derivatives), with conservatism talking more about family and flag while acquiescing in a more privatized faith.

Cass’s talk is replete with many provocative points worth examination, something I hope to do over a few coming essays. I admit my respect for Cass as a thinker; for example, I argued (here) that his 2019 book, The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America, offered numerous insights to building a theology of work relevant to U.S. labor. But I have to say, on this subject, I am not convinced.

Continued below.

Translating Original Sin into Secular Terms | New Oxford Review

Oren Cass’s First Things Lecture in Washington, D.C., on March 4 addressed the topic “Constructing Conservatism in the Secular Age.” The talk’s core argument was that American conservatism’s reliance on religious faith to make its central values arguments collides with the growing secularization...

www.newoxfordreview.org

 

[chevyontheriver]

Oren Cass’s First Things Lecture in Washington, D.C., on March 4 addressed the topic “Constructing Conservatism in the Secular Age.” The talk’s core argument was that American conservatism’s reliance on religious faith to make its central values arguments collides with the growing secularization of U.S. culture, causing it to lose ground. He suggests that religion hitherto provided a “form” for that value content but that form is increasingly incomprehensible to today’s Americans. Insisting on the abiding value of the content, Cass is looking for another “form” in which to embody it, hoping that some sort of notion of an intergenerational compact sustained by the sheer wonder about our being and the contingency of our existence might work to render those abiding values and traditions better understood by people today. People, he claims, are still searching for moral values; the fact that the appeal exercised by liberal moralism — dressed up as wokeism, climate fundamentalism, and the faith people put in the “science” of anti-COVID regimes — proves their desire, even if those “solutions” ultimately prove to be false religions. The point is people want some morality, even if it is not the morality traditionally derived from religion. (A link to a video of Cass’s lecture is here.)

I would beware of a kneejerk religious response dismissive of Cass’s concerns. The scorecard of the past 40 years suggests religion is losing ground, even in an America that once thought itself an exception to secularization. Shutting one’s eyes to that phenomenon will not make it disappear. Whether Cass’s diagnosis is correct is another question, but asking the question is worthwhile.

In the Q&A, editor R.R. Reno suggested American conservatism traditionally found expression in the “3Fs”: faith, family, and flag. Cass thought conservatism hitherto developed its understandings of family and flag as subcategories of faith. He proposed a different paradigm: the 3Fs as co-equals (rather than two as derivatives), with conservatism talking more about family and flag while acquiescing in a more privatized faith.

Cass’s talk is replete with many provocative points worth examination, something I hope to do over a few coming essays. I admit my respect for Cass as a thinker; for example, I argued (here) that his 2019 book, The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America, offered numerous insights to building a theology of work relevant to U.S. labor. But I have to say, on this subject, I am not convinced.

Continued below.

Translating Original Sin into Secular Terms | New Oxford Review

Oren Cass’s First Things Lecture in Washington, D.C., on March 4 addressed the topic “Constructing Conservatism in the Secular Age.” The talk’s core argument was that American conservatism’s reliance on religious faith to make its central values arguments collides with the growing secularization...

www.newoxfordreview.org

I used to think Original Sin was about the most self-evident thing out there. Human behavior essentially proved that humans were fallen creatures. But now, with craziness abounding there has been a loss of the sense of sin, the loss of a sense of shame, and the idea that we are all entitled to good things only from God, if God even exists. It's a silly season. But I think if a person grasps somehow the magnitude of the mess we are in there is hope to also grasp how it's a universally human disease, and how we need medicine from heaven to cure it in each bent human being.