Forum: Discounting tradition is refusing to learn from history

By Dan Hazen / Herald Forum

History reveals something important about tyranny. It can approach from any direction. From the ideological left, the ideological right or from some otherwise undefinable direction, but it always comes.

Moreover, resistance always comes with it. As the two violently push against each other, they begin to bend into an arc. Over time, if neither break, the opposite ends approach each other, forming a great circle. The point where they touch is where the tyranny blooms.

Tyranny is often the result of cooperation between opponents who eventually discover mutual self-interest. We have phrases to describe this process while it’s underway, like, “politics make strange bedfellows” and “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” I have recently learned a new one: “Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people.”

I can’t seem to find the origin of the phrase, but it’s used (ostensibly) to free us from irrational and burdensome limits on self-expression put in place in the past. It seems to be a favorite of the American social/political left and a direct response to its opposite: American social and political conservatism.

The phrase is being reproduced on T-shirts, mugs and plaques. It’s trumpeted on X, Reddit and Facebook. I heard it from a government leader on a webinar last week. The call is clear: Don’t let anyone else tell you what’s valuable or worthwhile. No one is capable (nor has the right) to expect anything of you, especially anyone old.

Putting aside the delicious irony that the individual freedom this saying seems to hold dear, comes from the “tradition” of western liberal democracy which in turn has it roots in Judean-Christian “tradition,” we discover another irony: the right-wing opponent meeting with it at the bottom of that great circle.

“No egg-head doctor is gonna tell me what I can do with body!” seamlessly joins with, “No old white man is gonna tell me what I can do with my body!” Right and Left agree that certain “kinds” of people pose a threat to goodness, beauty and truth. They agree that those “kinds” of people should have their speech and power limited (they just don’t agree on which “kinds”). That difference may seem insurmountable but give it time. The last vestiges of rationality and virtue are yet to be cast off. Soon the two sides seemingly irreconcilable differences will evaporate in the heat of a new realization. They have a common enemy: those who value self-denial.

We will continue to see anyone capable of forgiveness, unity and compromise lose their places of authority. They will be shouted down, voted out, canceled or vilified by both sides.

Am I being alarmist? I don’t mean to be. But pause to consider the value system behind this phrase which is, which has spewed from the mouths of Donald Trump and university presidents alike:

“The past is pointless and stupid. Ignore the panicked shouts from history. Other people’s ideas, values and needs have no bearing on your lived experience. You determine what is true and worthy. Discard everything you don’t approve of. Anything that has transpired prior to or apart from the manifestation of your personal will, is at best irrelevant and at worst (and most likely) oppression. Be on the lookout for ‘Them’. ‘They’ are seeking to victimize you. You will know ‘Them’ because ‘They’ look backwards where there is only ignorance and injustice. ‘They’ look left and right where your enemies lurk. ‘They’ look forward, which is just an illusion. Beware of anyone who asks you to look beyond your own truth.”

Dan Hazen is the community pastor at Allen Creek Community Church in Marysville.

Herald Forum

The Herald Forum invites community members to submit essays on topics of importance and interest to them. Essays typically are between 400 and 600 words in length, although exceptions for longer pieces can be made. To submit essays or for more information about the Herald Forum, write Herald Opinion editor Jon Bauer at jbauer@heraldnet.com or call him at 425-339-3466.