Renegade Trads

Renegade Trads are a subset of traditionalist Catholics notable for an outlook more sympathetic towards liberalism than the various subsets of mainstream traditionalism, which Renegade Trads consider unhealthily distorted by right-wing authoritarianism and intolerance. However, they would generally agree with other traditionalists on the superiority of traditional liturgy, on the existence of a major crisis of identity in the Church stemming at least in part from the Vatican II reforms, and on the perceived intellectual shallowness of neoconservative Catholics especially as regards the concept of tradition in light of the whole long history of the Church.
The relatively recent movement has been described as, "Open-minded young traditionalist Catholics who love the beauty of organic liturgy, but are disillusioned with the neuroses and self-righteous facades of the current trad and neoconservative movements. Committed to the idea that doctrinal orthodoxy and traditional aesthetics can be combined with a tolerant, pragmatic realism, an individualist, free-thinking, psychosexually integrated personality, and a sense of humor, to offer constructive critiques of the status quo." Many of the characteristics identified are in deliberate contrast with perceived deficiencies and dysfunctionalism in mainline traditionalists. Renegade Trads are, therefore, to be understood as "renegade" in the sense of rejecting many of traits that have come to be associated with traditionalist Catholics, and not in the sense of being particularly extreme compared to mainstream society (traditionalists for whom such extremism is characteristic are commonly known, rather, as "rad trads").
Renegade Trads may also be distinguished by an emphasis on diversity, individuality, and exploring suppressed or minority voices within the traditionalist movement, in the face of perceived narrowness, enforced homogeneity, conformist pressure, and Eurocentrism on the part of mainstream traditionalists. Being in some ways a reaction to mainstream traditionalism, there is also a reflective theme within the movement of self-conscious critique of traditionalism-as-such. There is likewise a meta-awareness of the traditionalist community as a social phenomenon, a subculture largely enabled by the internet, with corresponding sociological or anthropological analysis thereof on the part of some Renegade Trads.

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