I just finished reading Rod Dreher's book, Crunchy Cons. The book came to me thanks to my mother-in-law. It has an interesting point of view, and Dreher is a good writer, with a lot of promise.
Early in the book and throughout the work, which is a political manifesto, Dreher talks of living out of a sacramental view of life. Here's a central paragraph.
" . . . a sacramental worldview is an essentially religious way of interpreting reality, even if one isn't formally religious, because it affirms a transcendent order beneath the surface of things. To see the world sacramentally is to see material things - objects and human actions - as vessels containing or transmitting ideals. To live in a sacramental world is to live in a world pregnant with meaning, a world in which nothing can be taken for granted, and in which no one or no thing is without intrinsic worth. If we live, sacramentally then everything we do and everything we are reflects the things we value." (p. 181)
Dreher will surprise, delight and challenge the reader. I don't pretend to think he's right on all points. While I agree with him on his sacramental point of view, I think he misses the mark on some other points of view, for instance his rants against industrial agriculture. With growing up on a farm, having family still farming, and traveling through farm country often, his remarks don't seem well informed. He does challenge the reader.
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