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AWAY FROM RITUAL
One of the gravest problems of our day is the lack of commitment to common symbols. If this were all, there would be little to say. If it were merely a matter of our fragmentation into small groups, each committed to its proper symbolic forms, the case would be simple to understand. But more mysterious is a wide-spread, explicit rejection of rituals as such. Ritual is become a bad word signifying empty conformity. We are witnessing a revolt against formalism, even against form. ‘The vast majority of my class-mates just sat through four years.’ So wrote Newfield of what he called the ungeneration of his college year: ‘They didn't challenge any authority, take any risks or ask any questions. They just memorised “the given”, ...
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