Why I Hate the Term "Re-Enchantment"

This term, "re-enchantment" is starting to enter the lexicon of right wing discussion. We should resist this. I am not sure I have a better one, but this label works for the machine, not against it.

67. Why I Hate the Term "Re-Enchantment"

Everyone these days seems to be talking about “re-enchantment.” I will admit that it has a nice feel to it. If you were raised on the Harry Potter series, or read it to your kids when they were growing up like I did, you understand the appeal. I am an avid fantasy fiction reader. I love getting myself lost in stories of knights, dragons, adventures and, or course, rescuing princesses. Tolkien’s stories are not just a refuge, they are an anchoring vision for those who would find themselves lost in the modern and post-modern world. C.S. Lewis and Narnia? What is not to like? So, when people talk about “re-enchantment” it has an immediate appeal. It resonates. This resonance is what makes the term so dangerous.

Yes. I am a curmudgeon. I am also a Calvinist. Guilty as charged. Sometimes you just revert to base programing. In this case, though, I actually advocate things which make a lot of my brethren in the Reformed tradition uncomfortable. I was blessed with curmudgeonly professors for whom words mattered. Setting the terms of a debate. Defining the terms we will use. Good definitions and good distinctions are worth their weight in gold. Using the right words does matter. “Re-enchantment” is, in my mind, the wrong word. Using it risks undermining the whole project to address our society’s authority crisis. In part, I believe, this is because it isn’t radical enough. Its too safe. It’s an idea that gives people the warm fuzzies. It lets you think you can keep what you have, but make it better and richer, like switching from black and white to colour TV.