Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.Why it has such an impact on me in later posts.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Chesterton On Tradition
I've been reading (well, listening to) some G K Chesterton books recently. This quote, from Orthodoxy, resonated with me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Tradition can also mean cutting the ends off of your pot roast, because your grandmother's roasting pot was too small for a whole one.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=712
I have nothing against traditions. I approve of tradition, in fact. But, it is important to know not just *what* the traditions are, but to remember *why* they exist in the first place.
Unfortunately a lot of ugly history is justified by tradition. And once you question any part of tradition, all of it becomes suspect. That is surely the lesson of the 60's.
Tradition can also mean cutting the ends off of your pot roast, because your grandmother's roasting pot was too small for a whole one.
tim, I'm not sure your example can be dignified with the title Tradition.
Ligneus: it is an intentionally simple-minded example. The point is that blindly copying what your ancestors did can lead to doing silly and pointless things if the reason why they started doing something in the first place no longer exists.
Post a Comment