It is easy enough to point out the incoherence of the radicals: the layers of reflexive ideology, senseless iconoclasm, ignorance, and inherently unfulfillable demands. And point them out we should.
But then what?
No merely critical standpoint can build, let alone ‘conserve’ anything. One can lament the fire ravaging Notre Dame, but a dislike of fire confers exactly none of the knowledge required to build—or indeed, rebuild—that magnificent monument of Western culture. For that, you need architectural-mathematical understanding, aesthetic vision, as well as stone-carvers, carpenters, vitrailleurs, and so forth. Lamenting the Cathedral’s destruction is one thing; rebuilding it is another.
Sir Roger understood that. You can’t counter nihilism, you can’t defeat the iconoclasts, by critique alone. Indeed, even to focus primarily on critique is already to concede that the game is one of tearing-down, one of destruction.
Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website.