Samuel, thanks for this response. I agree that Christianity need not strip itself or the cultures at which it arrives of their particularity. There is a discourse that disallows Christians, for example, from identifying themselves with their nation, especially with America. On the contrary, Christianity does take a particularly American form in the US, and perpetuating the particular traditions of Christianity that are indigenous to the US - depending on the tradition - can be a good thing.
I do think the Nietzschean secular right is worth being wary of; but I'm glad that you don't think America should go in a non-Christian, neo-Pagan (Viking?) direction. ;) More, I want to draw attention to the fact that a right without a religion reduces to the defense of particularity. The moral and universal drops out. So I guess I would encourage a not merely particularist right. The correct balance of universal and particular is what we need.
Samuel, thanks for this response. I agree that Christianity need not strip itself or the cultures at which it arrives of their particularity. There is a discourse that disallows Christians, for example, from identifying themselves with their nation, especially with America. On the contrary, Christianity does take a particularly American form in the US, and perpetuating the particular traditions of Christianity that are indigenous to the US - depending on the tradition - can be a good thing.
I do think the Nietzschean secular right is worth being wary of; but I'm glad that you don't think America should go in a non-Christian, neo-Pagan (Viking?) direction. ;) More, I want to draw attention to the fact that a right without a religion reduces to the defense of particularity. The moral and universal drops out. So I guess I would encourage a not merely particularist right. The correct balance of universal and particular is what we need.