{"id":39966,"date":"2025-01-16T12:41:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T20:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39966"},"modified":"2025-01-16T12:42:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T20:42:56","slug":"cultural-connections-on-individual-journeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/cultural-connections-on-individual-journeys\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Connections on Individual Journeys"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do I currently believe about liberal democracy? Initially, I struggled to answer this question. What was causing my mental block? It is the word \u201cliberal.\u201d I grew up in a conservative Christian home. The word liberal <\/em>was not used positively. Liberal <\/em>defined people who believe things counter to the Bible, who want to have the freedom to live in sin without any accountability to God, and who will try to destroy traditional Christian values. I now live in an Islamic Republic. Social values in this country are also conservative, traditional, and driven by religion. My Muslim neighbors would probably have a similar view of liberalism<\/em> as I grew up with, but with liberals<\/em> being those with beliefs counter to the teachings of Islam. In both contexts, I have had to wrestle as someone on the outside, not fully buying into all the social norms of those conservative cultures. I respect the beliefs and values of tradition, authority, stability, connection, family, and community. I also value change, autonomy, free speech, and giving a voice to the marginalized, which is counter to the traditional, conservative ideology. My deep beliefs stem from a desire to be who God made me to be as an individual, uniquely gifted and called to make an impact for God\u2019s glory on the communities He has called me to serve.<\/p>\n

Returning to the original question, what do I believe about liberal democracy? I believe liberal democracy allows citizens to have a say and a choice in how they live as individuals and in the influence of governmental regulation on the whole of society. A liberal democracy identifies and seeks to rectify injustices and social discrepancies and provides structure and governance without overbearing rule.<\/p>\n

Patrick Deneen, in Why Liberalism Failed, <\/em>discusses how liberalism <\/em>has socially and philosophically led to the destruction of community, culture, and the environment in its efforts to try to promote freedom and thriving within these realms. I was specifically drawn to his arguments concerning culture and community, especially chapter three, \u201cLiberalism as Anticulture.\u201d According to Deneen, cultures and traditions have allowed mankind to develop a relationship with nature within the realm of community.[1]<\/a> The social norms and values seen in these cultures and traditions lead to natural limits for the individual within their communities. These cultural limits inhibit the individualism valued in liberalism.[2]<\/a> Conflict results when individual autonomy clashes with the traditional community values and beliefs. This confirms what I knew prior about liberalism and have seen firsthand in the conservative cultures in which I have lived. A palpable tension develops when an individual\u2019s aspirations \"\"<\/a>counter those of the greater community and culture. This causes tension, disunity, and disruption in family systems and within society. In the African society where I live, there is strong social pressure on women to wear a certain style of covering. It is a 6-meter-long body wrap. The younger generation desires to replace this restrictive garment with something more modern and freeing. However, the mothers and grandmothers of society hold to traditions, using shame and guilt to keep the young ladies in the traditional garb. Liberalism would argue that these women should be able to choose what they wish to wear as individuals. The community desires to maintain the distinctive dress worn by generations of their Saharan nomadic ancestors.<\/p>\n

I believe that liberalism can have a balance between the pressures of traditional culture and individual desires, fostering both autonomy and community. In the example of women\u2019s clothing, women could be free to wear traditional dress or other styles without either decision having extreme negative consequences for the individual or society they are part of. Deneen counters this belief, stating that in trying \u201cto liberate the individual from embedded cultures, traditions, places, and relationships, liberalism has homogenized the world in its image.\u201d[3]<\/a> He goes on to call this aspect of liberalism anticulture. <\/em>He claims that liberalism destroys cultural norms and beliefs due to their \u201coppressive\u201d nature. Still, instead of freeing the individual, a monoculture <\/em>has developed is essentially anticultural.[4]<\/a> Deneen\u2019s solution to this anti-culturalism caused by liberalism is to develop new methods rather than developing new theories. He states, \u201cWhat we need today are practices fostered in local settings, focused on the creation of new and viable cultures, economics grounded in virtuosity within households, and the creation of civic polis life.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

I agree that we need to develop better practices in moving forward. In the post-colonial society where I live, I see the daily discord between the community’s cultural traditions and the individual liberalism that globalization has brought into the country. What is my response as a Christian? I resonate deeply with Jim Wallis\u2019s call to Christians to seek change and restoration in all dimensions of society: the family core unit, community neighborhoods, and worldwide.[6]<\/a> In addressing American politics, Wallis suggests rather than choosing a specific political side, there is another possibility:<\/p>\n

\u201c[This option] is traditional or conservative on issues of family values, sexual integrity, and personal responsibility while being very progressive, populist, or even radical on issues like poverty and racial justice. It affirms good stewardship of the earth and its resources, supports gender equality, and is more internationally minded than nationalist\u2014looking first to peacemaking and conflict resolution regarding foreign policy questions.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

This perspective provides a balanced political view that can also be applied to liberalism, culture, and community. It values individuals God fearfully and wonderfully made, stewards the land and possessions He gives us, and seeks His Kingdom first. Finding this balance allows one to respect traditional cultures and values exhibited in the community while allowing God to guide and direct each individual on their journey with Him.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Patrick J. Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed<\/em>, Kindle ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018), 70-71.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 76.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 17-18.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 66.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 197.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Jim Wallis, God\u2019s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn\u2019t Get It<\/em>, Kindle ed. (New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2008), 384.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid, 74.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What do I currently believe about liberal democracy? Initially, I struggled to answer this question. What was causing my mental block? It is the word \u201cliberal.\u201d I grew up in a conservative Christian home. The word liberal was not used positively. Liberal defined people who believe things counter to the Bible, who want to have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2712,2967],"class_list":["post-39966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-deneen","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39966"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39970,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39966\/revisions\/39970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}