18 February 2012
RUMINATIONS: Raymond BillyWhen I think of my home state of Louisiana, the phrase “Laissez les bons temps rouler” (French for “let the good times roll”) truly captures the festive essence of the place. It's not just a Mardi Gras thing. So when I heard that nearly half of all Louisianans identify themselves as conservative — making it the fifth most conservative state in the union by self-identification — I was a bit surprised, given the staid connotation of the word. The closest Louisiana comes to conservatism is the outmoded tradition of Russell Kirk. If the state actually adhered to that tradition, it might be far better off than it is today. Instead, the facade of Kirkean philosophy is there without its underpinnings.Kirk, who died in 1994, espoused a brand of conservatism much different from today's more individualistic, market-centered ideology. His was a more paternalistic, top-down conservatism — with the Christian church at the top. He believed the church was best able to provide moral training for people and (by extension) for families and (by extension) for communities. Kirk did not admire the kind of “personal responsibility” mentality that modern conservatives champion — where personal happiness is the incentive. Kirk believed people owed it to their communities — not just to themselves — to be self-disciplined and prudent. In his view, neighbors have the right to demand virtue of one another in the name of community well-being. Shared culture and shared traditions were also hallmarks of Kirk's very communitarian conservatism because they promote camaraderie and cohesion.
Louisianans definitely share Kirk's regard for tradition and community. After Hurricane Katrina ravaged South Louisiana, preservationists worked to thwart any rebuilding plans that would clash with the historic French-creole architecture that characterizes the region. Their efforts were an affront to contemporary conservatism's impulse to let the free market dictate what should be built — and how — with no regard for such sentimentalism. New Orleans also commissioned the development of the Musicians Village, ensuring the city would not lose its starving artists amid a storm-induced diaspora. Retaining native sons and daughters has been key to the city's creative continuity — in music, architecture and cuisine — for generations. The state has the largest population of homebred residents in the country.
The state is also one of the country's most religious, and Catholic residents have had particularly palpable cultural influences there. But it is in the area of religion that the state has less in common with the Kirkean tradition.
In Kirk's ideal world, religion was regarded as society's lungs with the family acting as its heart. People — the life force, or blood, of society — should be circulated by their families to the church to receive the oxygen of virtue. The family unit reenforces this virtue (oxygenation) at home and sends its individual members out into society (the body) to sustain healthy community life.
Contrastingly, Louisiana culture, particularly South Louisiana, casts “the street corner” as the heart of society. People are taken in and passed through the lungs (local haunts such as jazz clubs, bars and casinos) and pumped out into society oxygenated by amore, liquor and allure.
Religion in Louisiana is often looked upon as the culture's immune system. Its role is to fight off the spiritual pathogens that can easily enter the body/community because of indulgent living. Religion often isn't the vehicle of character development there. It is used to show people where moral boundaries are. Some residents try to get as close to the boundary line as possible without crossing it. Others believe it's OK to cross the line so long as they don't venture too far beyond it.
Louisiana's approach to religion hasn't produced the kind of life-affirming communities Kirk envisioned. Religion has not immunized residents against the ill effects of indulgence. They have been harmed by overindulgence in alcohol, gambling and eros. Many Louisiana residents lack the prudence and piety that Kirk believed would sustain stable societies. Indeed, the family — the heart of Kirk's ideal social order — has broken down in Louisiana, where many children are not reared by both parents. Family frailty has undermined moral training, helping fuel a delinquency problem that has led to the nation's largest prison population per capita.
Perhaps people are better off if they don't practice religion and base their moral values on common sense, rather than using religious teachings to set parameters. Religion is intended to be a guiding force, not a boundary line. Louisiana is a prime example of what happens when one has religion without convictions. People who use religion merely to know what they can get away with and still be considered “good” from an eternal standpoint tend to forget that there can be severe temporal consequences for licentious behavior.
Not that there aren't positive things about Louisiana's laissez-faire approach to life. People can be themselves there — whether radically religious or solidly secular. Acceptance, love and mercy prevail. But mercy, if employed as a blanket, can open the door to libertinism, and that's what too often characterizes the “Pelican State.” When evaluated by the standards of Kirkean conservatism, Louisiana has succeeding in conserving cultural traditions, but must do more to conserve the moral integrity of souls.
Raymond Billy is the assistant editor of ResonateNews.com. To contact him, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
