Tony, you're hitting on a tension that I've been struggling to reconcile in my own worldview for some time, which I suppose is well summarized by the desire to embrace the good within liberalism (broadly defined) and reject its shadow side, while also soundly rejecting any proposed alternatives that would leverage the power of the State toward any sort of coercive theocracy.
For awhile I was adopting the word "illiberal" as a repudiation of libertarian individualism on both left and right, but the increasing use of the word to refer to militaristic authoritarian nationalism has put me off of it, although I do like Leah Libresco Sargeant's attempt to redeem it with what she terms "an illiberalism of the vulnerable".
I'd like to say I'm illiberal in an Anabaptist sense, and I believe there are some important contributions to the solution you're pointing toward from that tradition too, e.g. a strong emphasis on community and common good as well as a communal nonconformity to the world at large, and deep aversion to coercion of belief for obvious historical reasons.
I've been thinking for awhile, though, that this tension in me comes from a combination of influences that may be difficult to reconcile and perhaps create a disturbingly eclectic worldview: Anabaptist (albeit the more culturally assimilated end of that spectrum, but the culture of counter-culture still runs deep), Catholic (with emphasis on CST), and however much I may try to resist or deny it, the US culture that surrounds me.
Well, I read your essay thinking that you may be pointing toward a resolution of these tensions, and here I go tying myself back up in knots. Still, I think there's something very helpful here.
Tony, you're hitting on a tension that I've been struggling to reconcile in my own worldview for some time, which I suppose is well summarized by the desire to embrace the good within liberalism (broadly defined) and reject its shadow side, while also soundly rejecting any proposed alternatives that would leverage the power of the State toward any sort of coercive theocracy.
For awhile I was adopting the word "illiberal" as a repudiation of libertarian individualism on both left and right, but the increasing use of the word to refer to militaristic authoritarian nationalism has put me off of it, although I do like Leah Libresco Sargeant's attempt to redeem it with what she terms "an illiberalism of the vulnerable".
I'd like to say I'm illiberal in an Anabaptist sense, and I believe there are some important contributions to the solution you're pointing toward from that tradition too, e.g. a strong emphasis on community and common good as well as a communal nonconformity to the world at large, and deep aversion to coercion of belief for obvious historical reasons.
I've been thinking for awhile, though, that this tension in me comes from a combination of influences that may be difficult to reconcile and perhaps create a disturbingly eclectic worldview: Anabaptist (albeit the more culturally assimilated end of that spectrum, but the culture of counter-culture still runs deep), Catholic (with emphasis on CST), and however much I may try to resist or deny it, the US culture that surrounds me.
Well, I read your essay thinking that you may be pointing toward a resolution of these tensions, and here I go tying myself back up in knots. Still, I think there's something very helpful here.