Riding the Tiger

Between Technology and Traditionalism

William van Nostrand — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:12:43 +0000

It is a well-known fact that a number of the problems of modernity are in part due to industrialization. These problems extend far beyond the reach of “first world” countries, and affect the planet at large, and have inflicted severe damage on the environment. In the places where technology gave rise to the reign of quantity, it has also given rise to material surplus, allowing some people in those nations to become decadent and slothful, while regarding others as little more than “cogs in the machine,” whose primary purpose is that of material production. Living in modern times, it’s easy to envision the future as a polluted and dysgenic dystopia, and current projections might indicate that even those projections are quite optimistic. From the traditionalist point of view, the technologically-oriented society’s primary problem is the obsession with surplus and [...]

LETTER: Syrians must forge their own path for the future

William van Nostrand — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:59:09 +0000

To the Editor: I have been a frequent reader of RidingTheTiger, and have thus far been impressed by the quality of the articles. The authors have presented interesting facts in a clear manner, and for this I thank them. As we watch the current situation in Syria unfold, I’d like to weigh in with some perspectives, strictly as a neutral observer in the conflict. It might be unpolitically correct politically incorrect to say this, but I don’t see a need to take a side in the current Syrian conflict. As I see this as a fundamentally Syrian matter. Some Syrians want Assad gone whilst others want him to stay. This decision is one to be made by the Syrian people themselves, and it is not up to other countries to make the decision for them. The common perception of [...]

The modernist invention of “Judeo-Christianity”

William van Nostrand — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:19:39 +0000

Since the end of the Second World War we have been bombarded from all sides with references to the West’s “Judeo-Christian religion,” and “our Judeo-Christian heritage.” Politicians regularly invoke these principles, and even religious leaders trumpet the phrase as if it were a self-evident truth. So sacrosanct is this concept, that even secular leaders make appeals to it. In fact, in America, Judeo-Christianity is nearly secular, and almost always mentioned alongside concepts such as liberty, equality, and democracy – themselves purely concepts which are secular in nature. In the secular realm, even liberal atheists can make appeals to “the West’s Judeo-Christian roots”. They can never precisely name what these roots and values are, and in fact some liberals go so far as to say that things which are inherently anti-Christian are a part of that tradition based on a [...]

Abraham Lincoln: Historiography and Reality

William van Nostrand — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:01:12 +0000

In a little more than a week, Americans celebrate the birth of Abraham Lincoln, their 16th president as part of a federal “President’s Day” observance. In the annals of American history, Lincoln, the sixteeth president of the United States, is accorded a special place because of his role in the Civil War. After the Union won the war, Lincoln became known as the “Great Emancipator,” referring to his role in freeing African-American slaves from bondage. Modern Republicans consider him the progenitor of the modern incarnation of their party, and the American people by and large portray him as a warmhearted Christian and a honest family man. Some people admire his humble upbringing on the then-frontier state of Kentucky, while others look up to his style of leadership and herald him as a military genius and master orator who helped [...]

Iranians Mark 33rd Anniversary of the Victory of the Iranian Revolution

Ray Wilson — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:36:29 +0000

Today, millions of Iranians staged massive rallies both at home and abroad to commemorate this fact, as well as the struggle which gave their nation a new life and marked the beginning of the end for globalist aggression against the Iranian people. 33 years ago, the Iranian people rose up against the corrupt, secular regime of the Shah and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Revolution, which was at once anti-communist and populist, marked a unique moment in history. At a time when his nation of Iran was flanked by the secularist, communist Soviet Union and the secularist, materialist United States, Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Revolution, would secure his nation’s place in the world as an independent nation, with Shi’a Islam as the dominant guiding force for his people. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues [...]

The Nacirema as an analogy for modern society

William van Nostrand — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:35:05 +0000

In 1956, the American anthropologist Horace Miner gave first shed some insight into the nature of the Nacirema people and their customs. It was through the landmark work, Body Ritual Among the Nacirema that the bizarre cults of these people first came to the knowledge of the American people. Then, about thirty years ago, Neil B. Thompson continued that work by writing on the Elibomotua cult and environmental modification in the magazine “Natural History”. In describing the fall of this mysterious culture, the latter also described the ‘ritual’ architecture of these people in the following passage: “Trees, if in large enough numbers and size to influence the appearance of the landscape, were removed. In treeless regions, hills were leveled and large holes were dug and partially filled with water. In a few areas the Nacirema imported structural steel with which they erected tall, sculpturesque towers. Some of these towers were [...]

American University Attacks Religious Freedom

Hong Kyung-Jin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:15:24 +0000

An American university recently enacted a policy which, in practice, would force religious organizations operating on their campus to accept leaders who are not of their faith. Of course, the policy was not worded in such a fashion. As with all agenda-driven regulations, the policy was hidden behind a veneer of openness and tolerance: “any student may apply for leadership in any religious group”. This might sound harmless in theory, but a shocking admission from the university’s dean did admit in a conference that the mere suspicion that members used religious criteria in voting for their leaders was grounds for investigation. Which university was this? Such a regulation sounds as if it could have originated on any one of the ultra-liberal college campuses on the West Coast. However, this particular rule has been recently enacted at Vanderbilt University, a college [...]

RidingTheTiger.org Discussion forum

William van Nostrand — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:31:17 +0000

At the request of some of our readers, RidingTheTiger.org has opened a discussion forum. The discussion forum will serve as an area to discuss politics, current events, religion, philosophy, and science from a Traditionalist and Third Position perspective. Registration is free, and forum members will be able to post as soon as they are approved by the moderating team. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity, and we hope to see you at the forum. You can click on the link below to reach the forum:

Signs of the Times: British “Gender Neutral” Baby’s Sex Revealed

William van Nostrand — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:37:39 +0000

Recently, the news of a two British lesbians who decided to raise a child in a “gender neutral” environment reached newspapers both here and in England because the couple decided that to finally reveal that the child was a boy. Only, the child wasn’t being raised to be “gender neutral”. Despite the claims that they were just trying to encourage him to “avoid stereotypes,” he was encouraged to play with dolls to hide his masculinity, and banned from wearing clothes deemed too masculine. In other words, the couple who are raising this child are actually obsessed with stereotypes, and wanted to mold him into the stereotype of an effeminate girl, all the while themselves living up to the stereotype of fanatically ultra-leftist and anti-male lesbians who at best will have created a completely confused child who will grow up [...]