Editing Tradition (section)

==In political and religious discourse==
{{Conservatism sidebar|concepts}}
{{main|Traditional values|Traditionalist conservatism}}
{{also|Tradition (disambiguation)#Religion}}
The concepts of tradition and traditional values are frequently used in political and religious discourse to establish the legitimacy of a particular set of values. In the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the concept of tradition has been used to argue for the centrality and legitimacy of conservative religious values.<ref name="Bronner"/> Similarly, strands of orthodox theological thought from a number of world religions openly identify themselves as wanting a return to tradition, although "tradition" or its plural can also refer simply to the core teaching of religious group: thus [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] in [[1 Corinthians 11]]:2 refers to "the traditions, even as I delivered them to you".<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:2|ASV}}: [[American Standard Version]] (1901), cf. {{bibleverse|2 Thessalonians|2:15|ASV}}</ref>

The term "[[traditionalist Catholic]]" refers to those, such as [[Marcel Lefebvre|Archbishop Lefebvre]], who want the worship and practices of the Church to be as they were before the [[Second Vatican Council]] of 1962–65.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marty|first=Martin E.|title=Fundamentalisms observed|year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-50878-8|page=92|author2=R. Scott Appleby }}</ref> Likewise, [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] are referred to as ''Ahl el-Sunnah wa Al-Jamā‘ah'' ({{langx|ar|أهل السنة والجماعة}}), literally "people of the tradition [of [[Muhammad]]] and the community", emphasizing their attachment to religious and cultural tradition.

More generally, tradition has been used as a way of determining the [[political spectrum]], with [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] parties having a stronger affinity to certain ways of the past than [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] ones.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Farrell|first1=Henry John|last2=Lawrence|first2=Eric|author3-link=John M. Sides|last3=Sides|first3=John|date=2008|title=Self-Segregation or Deliberation? Blog Readership, Participation and Polarization in American Politics|journal=SSRN Working Paper Series|doi=10.2139/ssrn.1151490|issn=1556-5068}}</ref> Here, the concept of adherence tradition is embodied by the political philosophy of traditionalist conservatism (or simply ''traditionalism''), which emphasizes the need for the principles of [[natural law]] and transcendent moral order, [[hierarchy]] and [[organic unity]], [[agrarianism]], [[classicism]] and [[high culture]], and the intersecting spheres of loyalty.<ref>Frohnen, Bruce, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffrey O. Nelson, ed. (2006) ''American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia'', Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, pp. 870–875.</ref> Traditionalists would therefore reject the notions of [[individualism]], liberalism, modernity, and [[social progress]], but promote cultural and educational renewal,<ref>Frohnen, Bruce, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffrey O. Nelson, ed. (2006) ''American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia'' Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, p. 870.</ref> and revive interest in the Church, the family, the State and local community. This view has been criticised for including in its notion of tradition practices which are no longer considered to be desirable, for example, stereotypical views of the [[Feminism|place of women in domestic affairs]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Sex Roles|volume=7|issue=2|pages=183–188|doi=10.1007/BF00287804|title=Feminists and traditionalists: An attitudinal comparison|author=M. Dwayne Smith|author2=George D. Self |year=1981|s2cid=143401247}}</ref>

In other societies, especially ones experiencing rapid social change, the idea of what is "traditional" may be widely contested, with different groups striving to establish their own values as the legitimate traditional ones. Defining and enacting traditions in some cases can be the means of building unity between subgroups in a diverse society; in other cases, tradition is a means of [[othering]] and keeping groups distinct from one another.<ref name="Bronner"/>