Yesterday I discussed how the Enlightenment is truly foundational to U.S. society, for good and for ill. I praised the power of continual self-criticism, which – although seemingly utterly lost now in public life – comprises, in my view, the best of the American experiment. What Paul Tillich called “the Protestant principle” – that is, the capacity of a human group to examine and call into question their own presuppositions – seems to me the best of what “America” offered to the world to imitate for quite a long time, even though one cannot see it clearly anymore.
But the Enlightenment also presented a huge shadow side: the repression of feeling and intuition – to use Jung’s terms – which was reflected in the construction of American society, based solely on concrete facts and clear thinking. This level of one-sidedness probably never existed before in humanity, and now people are paying a huge price for it.
To me, the first big knot that America must confront is how to keep free and critical thinking while getting rid of the terrible one-sidedness of Enlightenment anthropology. What is happening now is exactly the opposite: the glorification of the ladder mentality at the expense of the freedom of critique. However, such a system can not exist for a long time because it is even more uneven than the previous one, which, for all its built-in injustices – as huge as racism and slavery – survived for 250 years.
One could say, of course, that the inequalities of the system were so big that the present disastrous situation was already seeded at the beginning. Yes. But my point is only that for a time the slaves were able to use the tools of the masters, such as the concept of human rights, and in this way the system could partially reform itself. The system was flawed, but the “Protestant principle” worked. However, the inability of the Enlightenment mentality to honor feeling and intuition brought on, in the end, the present dissolution of the system itself.
One other thing that the Enlightenment did – which is obviously extremely important and contested in the U.S., while in Europe it is more a matter of fact – was the consecration of the idea that religion is a private affair. In its original context, this idea created social peace and even a level of mutual trust among people belonging to different religions or denominations. It is still very much a bedrock of progressive thinking, precisely because of its practical value.
However, religion and spirituality are inherently political, meaning that they tend to get involved and transform society. The right wing tries to do so by imposition and is in denial about the self-destructiveness of such an attitude, as no true spirituality can be imposed in any sense of the term. But the left wing is also in denial if they keep believing that the utter separation between spirituality and politics, which worked so well for quite a time — or at least had very good reasons to be put in place 250 years ago — is still valid forever.
The second major knot that America must solve, therefore, is how to keep personal freedom, and especially freedom from the imposition of any religion, while reintroducing values within its social life and its educational system. Because with the separation of church and state, the Enlightenment also confined values to the sphere of private religion, but a social life which is not imbued with living values based on empathy and compassion tends to create fake ones — as listed in the American mythology catalogue so well crafted by Richard T. Hughes (see yesterday’s DM).
This is my take on America. I hope it offers some food for thought. Happy July 4th!
Banner Image: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Pledge of Allegiance plaque at the Allegheny County courthouse, Pennsylvania. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
When you put together the notions of America and spirituality, or America and values, what happens? What thoughts percolate in your mind?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest
Religion USA: Religion and Culture by Way of TIME Magazine
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
4 thoughts on ““America” – part 2”
When I put together the notions of America and spirituality, what happens is the image of the relentless crushing of a native population whose millennial Earth spirituality may still ironically save America from itself one day. When I put together the notions of America and values, what happens is the image of a word shrunk to its greediest real estate and banking meaning. When I consider the notion of America alone, what happens is the image of a gigantic question mark rising above an archetypal pond. The young boy smiling next to his father who holds a peaceful dissent sign that says “Make America Think Again” embodies HOPE. Thank you for posting it.
P.S. By “millennial” I meant “going back thousands of years.” Sorry.
What comes most to my own mind when posing these questions is one of Ideals. Ideals are rarely met, in part because in a democracy those ideals may differ at a core level. Religious tolerance is an excellent idea. Following the Golden Rule is an even better one.
OMG! That “right wing watch” video incredibly hard to watch; I suppose that’s the point? To see what these morally righteous, right wing bigots spew out “in the name of God.”
Lord have mercy.
This to me is where we – as the U.S. population writ large – are daily reaping what we sow; hatred & ignorance flaunted by (white) men who believe incredibly that they are, “doing the Lord’s Work”.
Grrrr, it gives me very Un Christian feelings! Of course the anti-GLBT focus hits me where it hurts.
Austin, TX as you know is the capital & the site of University of Texas. So it is a blue island in a red sea, just like my hometown of Tucson, AZ.
I didn’t actually catch the biblical verse which these clowns were sighting…