An Opthēan Reckoning with a Familiar Label
I’ve called myself a progressive for years, but I’ve come to see the label hides a quiet theology I cannot accept—the belief that history itself is bending toward justice. In Opthē, we know the arc does not bend on its own; if justice comes, it is because we draw the line ourselves.
Progressivism, as a political and cultural posture, often smuggles in a belief that is more theological than political: that there is a moral arc embedded in history itself, bending—inevitably—toward justice. I do not believe this is true. And if it is not true, then calling oneself “progressive” without qualification can invite dangerous complacency.
I. A Short History of Progressivism
The original Progressives, in the United States of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were reformers confronting the chaos of rapid industrialization: child labor, unsafe factories, political corruption, and the unchecked power of monopolies. They believed human reason and collective action could solve these problems without burning down the system entirely.
They gave us antitrust laws, food safety standards, public education expansion, and labor protections. They were not revolutionaries; they were pragmatic idealists.
Later, in the mid-20th century, the progressive mantle expanded—through the New Deal, the Great Society, the civil rights movement, feminism, environmentalism. By the 21st century, progressivism had become a loose coalition advocating for equity, civil rights, ecological care, and democratic reforms.
II. The Philosophical Underbelly
Progressivism inherits much from the Enlightenment: faith in reason, empirical evidence, and human capacity for improvement. It draws heavily from American Pragmatism—John Dewey’s belief that ideas must be tested by their consequences.
But it also carries, often unconsciously, a teleology—a sense of directionality in history. The “arc of the moral universe,” as Martin Luther King Jr. famously put it, is said to bend toward justice. This imagery is beautiful and mobilizing. It is also, I believe, misleading.
III. Where Progressivism and Opthēan Coherence Overlap
We walk together here:
Human Agency for Change — Neither accepts the status quo as inevitable.
Moral Responsibility for the Vulnerable — Care for the marginalized is central.
Commitment to Evidence — Decisions should be guided by reality, not ideology.
Cultural Reform as Possible and Necessary — Institutions are human-made and can be reshaped.
IV. Where the Paths Diverge
Here is where our ways part:
Source of Moral Direction
Progressivism often assumes a historical destiny.
Opthē rejects inevitability: coherence has no cosmic guarantee—only human stewardship.
Definition of “Better”
Progressivism often measures by policy gains and equity metrics.
Opthē measures by sacred coherence—alignment between truth, meaning, responsibility, and life’s flourishing.
Relationship to Truth
Progressivism can sacrifice truth for political expedience.
Opthē holds truth as sacred even when it disrupts alliances or goals.
Time Horizon
Progressivism often seeks generational wins.
Opthē tends coherence as a perpetual craft with no final victory.
Identity
Progressivism can be a political tribe.
Opthē is a vocation, not an ideology.
Scope of Care
Progressivism is primarily human-centered.
Opthē begins with the biosphere itself.
V. The Religious Temptation
Without meaning to, progressivism often mirrors religion:
Providence: History “wants” justice.
Salvation Story: Darkness (injustice), awakening (activism), redemption (a just society).
Prophets and Saints: Reformers and activists elevated as moral exemplars.
This is seductive because it offers comfort: history is on our side. But comfort is not the same as truth. The cosmos does not bend toward justice. It bends toward entropy. Any justice we see is the work of human minds, hearts, and hands—and it is always fragile.
VI. The Opthēan Reframing
We honor genuine progressives as allies. But we reject the metaphysical myth of the inevitable arc.
In Opthē:
No inevitability — The arc does not bend on its own.
No cosmic guarantee — Progress is a human craft, not a natural law.
Coherence, not destiny — Our measure is truth-aligned sacred coherence, not mere policy wins.
Axiom:
Progress is not the tide of history—it’s the work of our hands. Without us, it stops. Without vigilance, it reverses.
Closing: The Invitation
Progressivism has given the world much good. But it falters when it treats justice as history’s gift rather than humanity’s discipline.
Opthē invites progressives to a deeper commitment:
to trade the comfort of inevitability for the clarity of responsibility;
to exchange the myth of the arc for the craft of coherence;
to live not as passengers on history’s current, but as its stewards and builders.
There is no arc in the heavens.
There is only the line we draw together on the earth—
with our choices, our courage, and our care.