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Entry: Is There Conservatism Beyond Christianity? (or how to book a mental vacation in Athens or Valhalla) Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/is_there_conservatism_beyond_christianity_or_how_to_book_a_mental_vacation#23336 Post contents: Mr. Roberts, I certainly share your respect & empathy for the ancient pagans, and if I implied any analogy between the ancient pagans & modern Straussians then I erred gravely. You are quite correct to note the vast differences between the two. My concern is not with the ancient pagans but with neopagans. Now, I am about as mellow as one can be about religious differences without being an ecumenist, and frankly I would be sympathetic to a certain type of neopaganism. For example, if I got the impression that neopaganism represents some sort of worldview akin to that of Aristotle or Confusius -- a belief in some Prime Mover or Mandate of Heaven which shines divine order down upon the world, an order upon which we may base our families, communities, nations, etc.... then this is a worldview I could very much respect. I would still regard it as falling far short of Christian revelation, but it is at least pointed somewhere in the general right direction, and is a vision with which I could find much common ground. Or, if neopaganism represented a sincere belief that the world we inhabit is a domain informed by many spirits -- akin to Japanese Shinto or Greek pantheism -- I could also find some common ground for discourse. The problem is that the more I encounter neopagans, the more suspicious I get that it is an ideology rather than a faith or philosophy. By ideology, I mean a system which deliberately places political utility ahead of the truth. That is, the previous descriptions are what I would LIKE to think neopagans are all about -- because I am not the sort of person who relishes thinking the worst of others. However, the invocation of Mencken on this thread does not encourage me, given that Mencken defined poetry as being a pleasant, colorful deception, and thought that all religions were big fat illusions which could on occasion be useful for holding society together. How this jibes with respect for Homer and Sophocles utterly eludes me. That is, I am inclined to suspect that neopagans at heart believe that men are ultimately just clever beasts devoid of divinely-endowed dignity, meat-machines who need to be fed well-calibrated lies in order to keep them running properly. If this is true, then neopagans are fools in a myriad of ways, not the least of which in thinking themselves different from any other modern ideology, and for thinking their ideology represents a logical continuation of the pagan world. If I am mistaken and have mischaracterized their outlook, then I apologize to the neopagans in advance. And I mean that sincerely -- I would be relieved if one of them were to deny this latter view, for as I said I prefer to believe the best of people. But in my defense, no neopagan on this thread have said anything that would lead me to believe otherwise. Perhaps I am just being obtuse -- which is fine, it's not the first time this has happened. Sent at: 2008 08 30