Religious Tradition

Religious Tradition

When considering more closely the concept of tradition, in particular that of religious tradition, we may start by making a descriptive distinctionbetween various kinds of tradition: great versus little traditions, religiousversus non-religious traditions, traditions bound to local or regional areas versus more abstract traditions beyond immediate communication, raditions bound to specific ethnic, professional, or other groups versus traditions that stress individual experience or personalization. Tradition has an inherent character of process since it consists of a transmission, conscious or unconscious, of social and cultural elements that are part of a particular way of life or a specific organization of it.In this process of transmission, those who are at the receiving end are not simply passive receptacles. In fact, the vitality and very survival of a tradition depends on people assimilating elements of it because of the orientation and style or “taste” they give to life and the appeal of the community that partakes in the tradition. Tradition as transmission is an operation that implies an appeal; certain elements of it have a symbolic value and the tradition itself may even acquire a mythical value. Indeed, the social symbolism in a tradition refers to certain values that are pertinent to the cohesion and survival of the community and which the tradition upholds. This helps to explain why a tradition in a process of rationalization tends to develop into ideology, which, depending on circumstances, may develop beyond the tradition from which it originated. Traditions have their own history, and whereas some may experience an outburst of energy, others may come to a dead end. When circumstances change, a tradition can adopt new expressions, redefine itself, and take a new direction. In trying circumstances it can contribute to strengthen the community by providing shared meanings. It may even go underground, which implies that some elements are concealed. Needless to stress, a tradition precedes the individual born into it, who appropriates values through it, and who arrives at his own way of life precisely with reference to it. Individuals and groups always stand within traditions, but usually they have a certain freedom of choice to the extent that a tradition allows for variations. In more pluriform societies, it is possible to step over from one to another tradition. There is always an extreme possibility of stepping out of a given tradition without entering into another one. Paradoxically enough, the very originality of religious people, revolutionaries, and artists has sometimes given rise to new kinds of traditions.