Hi Billy, I would say there is a latent market for a vital center. If there was a galvanizing event, product, or person, then a new coalition could arise remarkably quickly. Finding it, however, is not at all easy or obvious. Just ask our friends at the New America Foundation. :-(
Also, that's a great insight about civil versus real religion.I think you are right: we first need revival of a true religion that transcends the split between liberal and fundamentalist Christianity. But coming out of that, there needs to be a broader civil religion that people from different traditions can also embrace. E Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 13, 2017, at 09:13, BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community <[email protected]> wrote: > > > from the site: > The American Conservative > > > Is There Still A ‘Vital Center’? > By ROD DREHER • April 11, 2017, 9:42 AM > > Emma Green interviews sociologist Phil Gorski, whose new book argues that > Americans need to rediscover the “vital center” in this age of polarization. > Gorski says that it’s not true that the Founders were either totally secular > or totally devout: > > The more accurate story of America is one of “civil religion,” Gorski writes, > that cherishes a founding myth and agreed-upon set of civic values and > responsibilities. Understanding America’s tradition of civil religion is > important for reviving the “vital center,” as he calls it: “believers and > nonbelievers, Republicans and Democrats who support a moderate form of > secularism and a liberal form of nationalism.” This is “not a mushy middle > that splits the difference between left and right,” he says, nor does it > “purport to be a ‘third way’ that ‘transcends’ debate.” Rather, the project > is about re-learning how to talk to one another and establishing a set of > shared principles derived from American history. > > From the interview itself: > > Emma Green: What is civil religion? > > Philip Gorski: Civil religion is the way a particular people thinks about > the transcendent purposes of a life together. One might understand > “transcendent” in a traditional religious sense, or one might just understand > it as some kind of ultimate value or higher purpose that a nation or polity > is built around. > > American civil religion is a specific version of that. > > And: > > Green: You propose that many Americans are in a middle space of some sort—not > necessarily between conservative and liberal thinking, but between these > poles of radical secularism and religious nationalism. You seem to be arguing > that the culture wars aren’t representative of what most people think, feel, > say, and experience. > > Who are these “middle voters,” and how do you know they exist? > > Gorksi: I don’t know for sure that they exist. But I do think we have > cultural resources in our shared history that have unified us, even in times > of deep division like this one. The fundamental purpose of my book is to > recover these resources, and to point people toward this place that I call > the vital center. > > It’s not a place of perfect agreement or complete consensus. But it is a > place where at least we’re all arguing about the same values and feeling that > we’re a part of the same long, hard, intergenerational project in the > American experiment in democracy. > > > > You know I’m a pessimist about this kind of thing, but really, I would love > to believe that there were a “vital center” that meant anything. I think it > is certainly true that most Americans don’t share the sense of culture war > that people on either extreme do. Whether that’s because they’re not paying > attention, or they just don’t have the emotional investment in this or that > issue, it’s impossible to say. You might not be interested in the culture > war, but the culture war is definitely interested in you. > > I have not read Gorski’s book, let me stipulate, but I am skeptical of his > hypothesis of a vast, silent, disengaged minority. First, it doesn’t matter > that they’re in the majority if they won’t speak up and act out in defense of > their centrist views. Second, “civil religion” is parasitic on real religion. > You can have a plausible (from a sociological and political point of view) > civil religion only when an actual religion is believed by enough people. > That is, folks might not go to church much, but they share a basic > Judeo-Christian framework for understanding the world and constructing > society, including legislating. But when that fades away, as it has done and > continues to do, what binding power can civil religion possibly have? > > Increasingly, Christians can’t even agree on what Christianity is, and > requires of us — particularly when it comes to public issues. Churches are > splitting over gay rights, for example, and immigration is hotly contested. > Sixty years ago, say, there would have been much less divergence of belief > among churches, and the sense of national unity (achieved in part through the > cultural forces of conformity) was much greater. Besides, today the quickest > way to get something is to claim special victimhood status as the result of > your identity. Whether or not you have a point in your particular claim, this > habit has become divisive of the body politic. > > It’s like this: if we have a vital center, then where are these centrists at > colleges when the left tries to no-platform speakers? Where were the > centrists on that day in the quad at Harvard Yale when Nicholas Christakis > was shouted at and abused by the leftist mob? They don’t say or do anything. > No civil religion is strong enough to counter the real American religion: > worship of the sacred Self. > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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