A Case For Tradition

Tradition is the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction. It governs our behavior within cultural continuity, in social attitudes, customs, and institutions.

When we look art our culture and the society that we live in, here in the United States of America, it comes to mind that this country did not create itself. No one planted the American seed and watched it grow without the influence of past human civilizations From the beginning, man has always sought to live in community, for protection . It became evident that those people who did so found other advantages in communal life. Each person was able to develop skills necessary for the advancement of the society in which he lived and share them for the benefit of others in his community. He passed down those skills to the oncoming generations and the tradition of this individual community grew the society. These skills improved hunting methods and agriculture as each person shared his talent and taught others who shared theirs as well.

After thousands of years, cultures, with their traditions, developed into what we see today in the world and in America which I speak about specifically. Without the tradition of handing on to the next generation our experiences, there would be no progression and no civilization as we know it today. This is not to say that all traditions are equal in their ability to improve the lot of humanity.

Tradition itself is neither good or bad. Some traditions tend to build up society and bring us closer to the love of all mankind and it’s growth towards perfection. Other traditions are self centered and encourage radical individuality at the expense of others. These traditions tend to degrade society and impede its growth towards perfection in love. When moral values are adhered to, society can depend upon tradition to maintain stability. Morality, however must be accepted as objective truth. Without objective truth, civilization itself is bound to failure as observed in history.

Through this BLOG, I hope to share my hopes for the advancement of humanity through the acknowledgment of tradition in our lives and encourage my readers to share their views as well.

I intend to address the following in this blog:

Morality

Religion

Politics

Social economic strictures

Humanity and What It Means To Be Human

Education

Vice vs. Virtue

Art & Entertainment

The following verses from the New Testament show the difference between Good and Evil TRADITIONs and the admonition to discern and follow the Traditions taught be Jesus in our modern world.

1 Cor. 11:2, “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.”

2 Thess 2:15, “so then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

2 Thess. 3:6, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.”

Next week, what differentiates humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom will become apparent.