In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-

Hear, O children of memory and destiny, the words of Jordan Peterson, who declared: “In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion-, and even nation-centred cultures.” In this saying he names a profound turning of the age, a departure not of footsteps but of spirit. Once, men and women rooted their lives in stories handed down, in sacred practices, in loyalty to their land and people. But now, many drift unmoored, casting aside the anchors of their forebears. His words are not condemnation alone but warning: a tree cannot flourish if it has forgotten its roots.

The origin of this reflection lies in Peterson’s deep concern for the disintegration of meaning in modern Western societies. He has long studied the myths, scriptures, and philosophies that gave rise to Western civilization, and he has seen how swiftly they are being cast aside. The West, which once stood upon the pillars of faith, custom, and national identity, now often exalts the individual above all else. Freedom has grown, but with it, fragmentation. Where once there was shared story, now there is isolation; where once there was belonging, now there is estrangement.

Consider the weight of tradition. It is the collected wisdom of centuries, a lantern passed hand to hand so that each generation may walk a little further into the dark. To discard it as unnecessary is to scorn the sacrifices of ancestors who built with blood, toil, and prayer. Consider religion, which gave not only rituals but meaning, teaching mankind its place in the order of things, binding communities through shared reverence. Consider also nation, which, at its noblest, calls people to unity, to service, and to love of neighbor. To withdraw from all these is to strip life of its larger story, leaving only the solitary self adrift in a sea without maps.

History offers warnings of what follows such a withdrawal. In the French Revolution, when faith and tradition were torn down in the name of reason alone, the result was not liberation but terror, guillotines, and chaos. In the Soviet experiment, religion and nation were scorned, traditions erased, yet the vacuum was filled not with freedom but with tyranny. When the old stories are silenced, new idols arise—ideologies that promise paradise but deliver destruction. Peterson’s words echo through history: to abandon tradition and faith is not to walk into light, but often into shadow.

Yet his statement also reveals a paradox. The retreat from tradition and religion is often driven by noble desires: the desire for freedom from oppression, the desire for equality, the desire to think without chains. These are not wrong. But freedom without roots becomes chaos; equality without wisdom becomes tyranny. The challenge, then, is not to reject tradition but to renew it, not to scorn religion but to purify it, not to abandon nation but to ennoble it. The old forms must not be discarded, but strengthened to meet the needs of the present.

The meaning, then, is both warning and call. We must not withdraw so far from our heritage that we lose ourselves. The West stands now at a crossroads: one path leads to nihilism, fragmentation, and despair; the other to a revival of meaning grounded in the wisdom of the past yet open to the needs of the present. To choose rightly requires courage, humility, and reverence for the treasures handed down through time.

The lesson for us is clear. Remember your roots—know the stories of your people, the faiths that shaped them, the sacrifices that built your nation. Do not scorn tradition, but learn from it, holding fast to what uplifts and casting aside what corrupts. Rebuild religion, not as a weapon of division, but as a wellspring of meaning and compassion. Love your nation, not with blind pride, but with gratitude and responsibility. And above all, resist the temptation to live only for yourself—for true life is found in service to something greater.

Thus let the words of Jordan Peterson endure: “In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion-, and even nation-centred cultures.” May they awaken us to the danger of forgetting, and inspire us to the noble work of remembering—so that we might live not as uprooted wanderers, but as heirs of a great heritage, carrying it forward into the dawn of tomorrow.