I came across a concept the other day that I always thought was true, but never formulated it, nor knew that it was a well-established idea. This is Chesterton’s Fence. The principle can be formulated as follows.
“There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”
I think this idea is all too often ignored. I see it every four years, when much of the country starts complaining about the Electoral College, and I see it every time a politician tries to pass a bill to raise the minimum wage. I wonder, have they asked themselves what the purpose of prices are? Have they answered that question for themselves?
On a more abstract level, I think of this when it comes to religion. In some sense, it’s so easy to call yourself an intellectual and reject the existence of God, of organized religion, and of traditional beliefs, in general. It’s hard to see the purpose, or you see bad things happening to good people (or vice versa) and you decide to say that God is dead. Chesterton’s Fence would ask you to figure out why – if bad things happen to good people, or the Holocaust occurred, or “science” – do so many people still devote themselves to religion?
On a more specific – and personal – level, this is often my response to the Jewish feminist movement. It makes criticisms which are valid, on their face, and – not being as well studied as I should be – I don’t always know the answer. Why, for example, can women not lein Torah while men can? Why do married women have to cover their hair? Why can women not be Rabbis? The truth is that I do not know the answer to these questions. But it seems facile to ask them, refuse to spend more than an hour looking for an answer in the medieval commentaries, and then declare the religion sexist. The Chesterton’s fence principle is much more intellectually satisfying.
Reflections of Belief 