Neo-Gnosticism, ideology and the culture wars: the contemplative antidote – perennial tensions: a reply to Jersak

ABSTRACT

This reply speaks to Brad Jersak’s analysis of the left–right culture wars spectrum and his critique of identity politics. He offers an alternative rooted in his studies of George P. Grant and Simone Weil’s notion of the primacy of the Good vis-à-vis the triumph of the will that undergirds modernist assumptions. Jersak’s thesis is confirmed and would be strengthened by careful attention Eric Voegelin’s assessment of Gnosticism in The New Science of Politics. What needs further attention on the way of just peacemaking is the important turn from the vita activa to a sustained vita contemplativa as a way of knowing and being (cf. Merton). Finally, using Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game (1946) reminds us of the inevitable clash between idealists and realists, raising the question of how, in the end, the owl of contemplative wisdom might navigate conflict between doves and hawks.

This is a reply to:

Jersak, Brad 2018. “Transcending the Tribalism of the Culture Wars Spectrum.” Global Discourse doi:10.1080/23269995.2018.1512341 .

KEYWORDS:

• George P. Grant
• Simone Weil
• Eric Voegelin
• Gnosticism
• Hermann Hess
• Glass Bead Game

This article responds to:

Transcending the tribalism of the culture wars spectrum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.