Alvydas Jokubaitis: the desire to eliminate all superstitions is the greatest superstition

In his words, the liberals fought superstition so fiercely that they eventually became advocates of certain superstitions.

“The state of Lithuania was created a hundred years ago by superstitious people <…> Unfortunately, our state today is already acting as a self-destructive force. In the name of endless modernization, she broke with the ideals that inspired the national movement. We are now governed by the superstition of endless novelty at all costs, ”says the philosopher.

According to Delphi’s interlocutor, national movements have suffered a cultural failure because nationalists have assumed the unattainable task of reconciling classical and modern philosophical thought.

“Classical thought is represented by the declaration of an absolute duty to the nation, and modern thought by the denial of this duty. In the demonstration of the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, after the elections, there were hundreds of national flags of the country The concentration of his losing competitor took place without Polish flags, as in neutral territory “, – considers prof. Jokubaitis

– God, declared dead by Friedrich Nietzsche, revives in the political rhetoric of the right. The draft Constitution for Europe sought to consecrate Christianity and God. Conservative values ​​on the right are often portrayed as “Christian.” Along with the repeated ode to nationality, the nation-state, the community, the mother tongue, traditional gender relations at the heart of a patriarchal family, etc. Don’t you think that the righteous conservatives of these times are trying to resurrect inanimate things and interact with the spirits of deities (values) slain by progress?

– Nietzsche has announced an endless revaluation of the securities. Without God as an immovable benchmark, everyone can now create their own goddess, commonly known as values.

Observe an interesting phenomenon in our spiritual life: Most of us have not seen a person who has changed their gender, but we support the right to do so. For us, this is a sign of respect for freedom.

From a philosophical perspective, we want to demonstrate that there is not only God but also nature. This is the main objective of modern culture: there is nothing fixed that cannot be changed. We are waiting for someone to say ‘no’. Then we will all definitely say ‘possible’. The beach at Lukiškės Square is innocent proof of this. It is possible that what was not possible.

What can conservatives do in this new world? Simply repeat learned phrases, beliefs, and slogans from earlier times. But it is not his words that have power. Conservatives are late modernists. They became embroiled in controversy created by modern politicians, and thus became participants in the modern debate.

In our “anything is possible” world, politics is becoming increasingly difficult because there is no common good except, of course, disagreeing on everything. But that’s a pretty weak good. The pile of sand called “Pliažu” in Lukiškės Square is the beginning of life’s endless experiments. Now the parliament and even the cemetery can become a beach; after all, there are many advantages, i. and. Cross. I know that after this prayer, the liberals said ‘no, no, we will never do that.’ Really? You want to believe, but in a world without limits, constant and absolute rules, everything is possible.

– Why does liberalism win ideological struggles? First he defeated the Church and the aristocracy, then conservatism and socialism, absorbing both ideologies. Now he is finishing the remains of a culture that does not kneel before the gods of liberalism.

– We only attribute all these impressive victories to liberalism. That is the first word that comes to mind. In fact, the way of thinking about man, society and politics that has taken root in the West after the Renaissance triumphs. What is characteristic of it?

Nothing is taken for granted and of course, everything becomes hypothetical as in science. Society and man lose their daily reality and become theoretical abstractions, such as human rights, the list of which can be extended to infinity. Everything is seen from the outside, neutrally, surrendering common sense. A lot of different knowledge is accumulated, but you no longer know who a person is.

The accumulation of knowledge about man and society is separate from morality. This is not a description of the political movement, but of our culture. We all want to do levels and together we want everyone to be different. We want to liberate society, but at the same time we are arguing that freedom is a private matter.

– Why have liberals, after hearing conservative reactions to their ideological victories, often begin to argue that liberalism is not here?

– If Western culture has its own direction of development, as Georg Hegel would say, then the liberals are right. They are not the main creators of cultural change. Children from school and even earlier enter culture. Liberals simply sit comfortably on the train of modern culture change along with others. They are famous only for screaming out loud, disregarding the rules, chattering and impacting non-stop.

But if liberals depend on culture and history, all their conversations about freedom are empty. I am not talking about individuals, because there are many sympathetic personalities among the liberals, but about the trend.

– Is Christianity naturally compatible with liberal democracy and can it be an ideological source of democratic politics?

– The democratic political regime defends the rights of believers, but is afraid to allow religion to get too close so that it does not claim to be the spiritual educator of society. Liberal democracy has major problems in human education and therefore feels the competence of the Church.

Democratic thought revolves around the idea of ​​immanence. Any deviation from this world denies the identity of democracy. The highest authority of modern democracy is not God, but the will of the citizens. A democratic state seeks to be religiously neutral. Believers may be sincere supporters of democracy, but democracy is indifferent to religion.

Democrats are on the side of human will, and believers are on the side of religious significance. This difference in attitudes creates tension between democracy and religion. Atheists have reason to distrust believers’ declarations of fidelity to democracy because they really question this regime. Even showing sympathy for it, they criticize the cultural and moral phenomena that accompany it. There are moral disagreements between democracy and religion that arise in disputes over family, marriage, abortion, homosexuality, or euthanasia.

– XX a. in the second half of the XXI century. The role of the Church in the western world has diminished considerably. Is it wise to associate Christianity with hopes of a spiritual, cultural, and political revival in the West? Who can they associate with in general?

– The Church can become a source of spiritual renewal, but it must meet two conditions. First, people have the free will to become members. Second, it must be on the side of spiritual renewal, not clericalism.

On a political level, the Church is today equated with a club of philatelists and hunters. Their only chance is to gain indirect spiritual power over the souls of citizens.

Numerous indications indicate that the West today is capable of updating mobile phones instead of the human spirit. We had the Renaissance, the Christian Reformation and Protestantism, the Enlightenment movement and Romanticism. We are now trying to talk about postmodernism, even though it is just another name for Nietzsche’s philosophy.

There is only one chance for the future: to replace people with what is now called “artificial intelligence.” Everything already seems to us made of plasticine, and we perceive ourselves as a transformer. Pierre Manent noted that during the coronavirus pandemic, dogs and other animals could be buried more humanely than humans because no one formally regulated their burial procedures.

– But after all, modern society is extremely sensitive, human. Respectful of human rights, compassionate, empathetic, intolerant of homophobia and racism. There has been less sensitivity to human rights, life, well-being and gender diversity throughout human history. What do you not like about this situation?

– The West has something to be proud of. But such a dialectic of this world, what we have sought, suddenly turns against us, becomes contradictions and inconsistencies.

A true liberal society must allow people of non-liberal beliefs to live up to their understanding. Now that is less and less. Liberals believe that humanity begins with freedom. But this is not the opinion of Christians, at least Catholics. Christianity provides a natural law logos, The order established by God.

After the end of the Soviet era, Cardinal Vincent Sladkevičius, in response to one of Romuald Ozol’s questions, said terrifying words: that the Soviet government had equated Catholics with fools. Fears return that the liberals would not begin to do the same.

Christians know it will be called that. However, is this compatible with liberalism? Do liberals have to make everyone liberal? Then it will not be liberalism, but coercion, ideological indoctrination, imposition of views and captivity.

– 1918 and 1990. The Lithuanian state was created and restored as a project of the nation state. Does the nation state have a future?

– The nationalists of the last two centuries have tried to defend culture and the human spirit at a time when, in the words of Karl Marx, “everything sacred is being desecrated.” It must be recognized that national movements have suffered a cultural failure. Nationalists did not expect that the citizens of the free nation they had raised could begin to be ashamed of the nation. The nation was supposed to become an absolute principle, but today’s citizens are convinced that this is just one of the many coincidences in their lives. Nationalists have assumed the unattainable task of reconciling the traditions of classical and modern philosophical thought.

Classical thought is represented by the declaration of absolute duty to the nation, and modern thought by the negation of this duty. At the Polish President Andrzej Duda’s demonstration, after the elections, there were hundreds of the country’s national flags. The rally of his losing competitor took place without Polish flags, as in neutral territory.

What is most interesting is Germany’s attitude towards the Polish elections: she supports Rafal Trzaskowski, but she does not understand whether this supports the German national interest or the European Union. The German nation-state, while not called that, has a future under the guise of the EU.

– And what is your future? Now he dominates Europe economically, but he even fears signs of his own national and political leadership. Will this situation change in the near future?

– Agents have emerged in the European Union, that is and. truly acting, and entities that feel acting but not actually acting. Germany has always been afraid to take the initiative. In criticizing any manifestation of nationalism, the Germans affirm their national interest.

If necessary, Germany would quickly form a new union out of the crumbling European Union, and Lithuania would be there. Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, the Germans are the creators of derivations torn by the lower extremes of individualism. They feel the whole and know how to combine freedom with a sense of duty. Also, they are afraid of their stories today, and that can deter them from terrible new adventures.

– Is sustainable statehood and viable patriotism possible without political mythology and what conservative thinkers – Burke, of Maiste – called superstition?

– People cannot live without prejudice. The desire to eliminate all superstitions is the greatest superstition. This word does not describe a black cat running down the knee, but a preconceived notion or developed attitude. In Lithuanian, the word “superstition” describes what it is like before saying a word.

Liberals fought superstition so intensely that they eventually became advocates of certain superstitions. Any political ideology is a set of dogmas and superstitions ready for discussion. The Lithuanian state was created a hundred years ago by superstitious people. The nation did not emerge from the endless scientific debate, because no scientific debate is complete: it can continue for centuries and millennia.

Unfortunately, our state today is already acting as a self-destructive force. In the name of endless modernization, she broke with the ideals that inspired the national movement. Imagine not only old people but also modern culture. Any cultural innovation must be replaced by something even newer. We are now governed by a superstition of endless novelty at all costs.

In the United States, even monuments to her parents’ creators are crumbling. This is not yet the case in Lithuania, but it can be expected.

– Modern liberalism has struggled with superstitions since the Enlightenment to “remove the darkness” as proclaimed in our National Anthem. Does liberalism just happen to perpetuate its own biases? Your own “darkness”?

– My father-in-law Kazimieras, who has lived for almost a hundred years, fears that the words “your sons will seek the strength of the past” will soon be removed from the Lithuanian anthem, because Lithuanian daughters may not like them.

And the walk of the Lithuanian children along the paths of virtue can lead to arguments, because we do not agree on the virtues. Vincas Kudirka’s proposal to “remove the darkness” can turn against Kudirka if we lose our sanity.

Let’s imagine: Mark Rothko shows his paintings to Leonard Da Vinci or Raphael, and is sent to jump to cut. If current liberals had expressed their views to Immanuel Kant, who had created an incomparable defense of human autonomy, he would have been sent to the same place.

What does this mean? New superstitions are not better just because they can be easily distributed online. If the liberals did not have superstitions, it would not be clear why they want to defeat so much. They say we are free to search for the truth, but when this does not coincide with their superstitions, they stick to the lapels.