IN the interpretation of texts, the tradition of interpretation is crucial, otherwise every text, when reread, would have to be interpreted anew. This is particularly true with the most important texts of society: scriptural texts and legal texts. One reason that legal texts stabilize behavioral expectations in society is because of the continuity of tradition. And legal tradition is more than just judicial precedent or some application of stare decisis. It has to do with such things as judicial restraint when confronted with an issue that presents itself as justiciable but one that would mire the judiciary in partisan politics. It has to do with the reticence of judges and the use of the technique of self-recusal (often abused!) when there is doubt about their ability to render judgment fairly. It has to do with judicial attitudes toward motions for reconsideration. In respect to Sacred Scripture, the staunch fundamentalist rejection of any interpretation - if that is even possible - and the inflexible fidelity to how the text reads (no matter that it is a translation and therefore an interpretation) is itself a tradition. Tradition is inescapable.

But tradition would be deadweight and would have hardly anything to do with being human and being-with-others if it were not alive. Traditional pulsates with the life of a community. And much of what is claimed to be traditional is of recent vintage. Fidelity to tradition cannot mean unyielding adherence to the past. That would be the fossilization of the practices of the past - and a fidelity to them for no other reason than that they are past. Traditional is helpful when it is the embodiment of the insight, the experience, the wisdom and the cogitation of the past. Tradition is what saves us from what would otherwise be the daunting if not impossible task of learning things all over again. Tradition is what forms the fabric of thought, the matrix of insight and the womb of revolutionary ideas.

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