"Toxic" Traditionalism
The Elector of Brandenberg, Joachim II, receives the Holy Sacrament at St. Nikolai Lutheran Church in Spandau, 1539
The National Catholic Reporter published an opinion piece by Zita Ballinger Fletcher that was dripping with venom toward traditional liturgy. In this Roman Catholic context, the traditional liturgy is represented by the Tridentine (Latin) Mass vs. the modernized Novus Ordo Mass and its attendant innovations and incorporation of various secular and syncretistic religious elements.
She describes the attendees of Latin Masses as “radical” and “narrow-minded” and calls them a “sect.” She accuses them of misogyny and hatred toward the laity owing to such things as celebrating the service ad orientem (not facing the people). She is offended by the kneeling, the communion rail, and the fact that people take communion on the tongue. She objects to women covering their heads and dressing modestly. She compares this expression of modesty to “religious extremism in the middle east.”
Go ahead and read it. It’s a scream!
She was also terribly annoyed that the Latin Mass was mainly attended by young families. She finds this “frightening” and compared it to a virus replicating itself. The title of the piece sums up her attitude toward “toxic tradition.”
Her article was so over the top, that a parody of it is circulating among traditionalist Catholics. And like good satire, it’s funny because it isn’t far off from the sophomoric Social Justice Warrior cant as spat out of the mouth of the original article. Mrs. Fletcher is engaging in classic “chronological snobbery.” There is a similar parody facebook group featuring a character hostile to traditionalism, an older woman named “Susan from the Parish Council.”
There is an analogous situation in American Lutheranism. And just to be clear (and it is ridiculous that we have to make such disclaimers), I’m not advocating for any specific liturgical practice of Rome. I’m not advocating for Latin Masses and rosaries and for any non-Lutheran doctrine and/or practice. I am pointing out the analogy within our own context.
As younger people are rediscovering the blessings of the traditional liturgy, its reverence, and its focus on Christ crucified and not on us and our entertainment, we are seeing a demographic shift among pastors and lay people. And as the baby boomers make their way to the shuffleboard decks to enjoy their golden years, their post-Vatican II revolution is coming unraveled.
And so we hear a lot of the same bitterness, and almost panic, at the return of the traditional liturgy. Like climate alarmists, we are warned that if we don’t get rid of our toxic liturgy and embrace change in the way of entertainment-based worship, we are doomed.
Others express discomfort with receiving the Holy Sacrament on the tongue, or with the elimination of things like children’s sermons and the “passing of the peace.” Others are wary of chasubles, incense, bells, chant, and every Sunday communion, as these are “too Catholic” and will somehow frighten off “the youth.”
And like Mrs. Fletcher’s snide use of language to spin a narrative, I’ve read similar remarks from our own home-grown anti-traditionalists, such as mocking the faithful communing on the tongue because they look like “lizards,” describing the traditional church sanctuary as “dark” and “musty,” denouncing vestments as “medieval,” making fun of hymnody as “funeral dirges,” and using the word “robes” - or even “gowns” - to mock the use of vestments.
And yet, both of our seminaries are turning out pastors conversant with the Lutheran confessions and generally of a traditional, liturgical bent. And in spite of the predictions that traditional worship is dead and the real future is in Contemporary (sic) Worship, there is a renewed interest across Christendom of a more serious, profound, historically-grounded sacramental approach to worship to the consternation of both Pope Francis and progressives within our own church body (though in fairness, it does look like Congregations Matter was merely an ad hoc political organization, as they have not produced a single essay since the LCMS election and convention).
And that indeed is the conflict: traditionalists vs. progressives. Instead of using the hackneyed and imprecise language of “conservatives” vs. “liberals,” (after all, our LCMS progressives will say that they are conservative, as they generally vote Republican and believe in six days of creation). When it comes to liturgical matters, we are divided between advocates of change, and advocates of passing on what we received (the former is the definition of what it means to be progressive, while the latter are the embodiment of what the word “tradition” means in its literal sense). And once more, the short film “The Conflict” (also known as “Catholics: A Fable” and based on the novella “Catholics”) is worth watching.
It’s important to note that the philosophical foundation of progressivism as it exists today is found in Darwinism: the belief that we are evolving, getting better over time, and that by making changes (mutations) along the way, we improve. Progressivism is a form of chauvinism against our ancestors, taking the tack that we moderns are more intelligent, moral, enlightened, and righteous than our forbears. And so we must change or die as Bishop Spong warned in 1998 - which sounds very Darwinian indeed. And this Spongian cry from the watchtower, attached to our traditional liturgy, is the same mantra being chanted by Dr. Luecke.
But as the great Dr. Charles Porterfield Krauth reminded us in 1872, Lutheranism is by its very nature a “conservative reformation.” And far from being subject to muddled style and substance, Lutheran doctrine requires Lutheran practice in order to authentically confess our faith.
And what a blessing and joy that good people across Christendom, especially the young, are rediscovering the blessings of traditionalism, of being connected to the past, of something solid and unchanging in this world even as their lives spin out of control and as our culture is changing at a dizzying pace, that there is a solid rock upon which to stand, a solace from the hustle and bustle, something comfortable and familiar and authentic, where Christ comes not merely in ideas or even in spirit, but also in His Word and in the flesh - a Reality which brings a thrilled silence to the soul as we all find our place of belonging, transcending time itself, worshiping with angels and archangels, and leaving behind the madness of change for change’s sake outside the doors of the church.