Conservativism
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
In writing this article I want to first confess that I am not a conservative, at least not by today's definition. Historically a conservative followed the ideas of Thomas Jefferson who believed that government should be limited. This did not mean that government necessarily had to be small or passive in the face of abuse of the powerless or rape of the environment. It meant that liberty was to be preserved in the people. In fact no government could confer liberty upon the people because it is inherently possessed as an unalienable right by the people. Our Constitution and the Bill of Rights exist to limit the ability of the government to impair liberty. That is true conservatism with a healthy dose of liberalism.
Today conservatism means driving the country into debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren to pay for spreading democracy at the point of a gun, ignoring the fact that democracy is best taught by example, not by war. Today conservatism means turning a blind eye to environmental tragedies in the name of economic "freedom" because multinational corporations have bought off many in the government. Today it means groveling to soft money PACs about how conservative one is not only to win their approval but to avoid their swift boat hit squad commercials or the snarling political pornography of Ann Coulter. Today it means acting as if the only true Christianity is is that which is embedded with the right wing ignoring the stunningly liberal and even revolutionary things Jesus said and did.
In fact, the wedding of the church and the so-called conservative movement is one of the most troubling events of our era. Here is what Martin Luther King had to say about the church becoming enmeshed in politics:
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
Somewhere along the path the Republican Party lost its way. But it should not lose hope because there is a pretty big signpost coming up this November. Actually, it would be more accurate to call it a two by four.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw[[In-content Ad]]
In writing this article I want to first confess that I am not a conservative, at least not by today's definition. Historically a conservative followed the ideas of Thomas Jefferson who believed that government should be limited. This did not mean that government necessarily had to be small or passive in the face of abuse of the powerless or rape of the environment. It meant that liberty was to be preserved in the people. In fact no government could confer liberty upon the people because it is inherently possessed as an unalienable right by the people. Our Constitution and the Bill of Rights exist to limit the ability of the government to impair liberty. That is true conservatism with a healthy dose of liberalism.
Today conservatism means driving the country into debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren to pay for spreading democracy at the point of a gun, ignoring the fact that democracy is best taught by example, not by war. Today conservatism means turning a blind eye to environmental tragedies in the name of economic "freedom" because multinational corporations have bought off many in the government. Today it means groveling to soft money PACs about how conservative one is not only to win their approval but to avoid their swift boat hit squad commercials or the snarling political pornography of Ann Coulter. Today it means acting as if the only true Christianity is is that which is embedded with the right wing ignoring the stunningly liberal and even revolutionary things Jesus said and did.
In fact, the wedding of the church and the so-called conservative movement is one of the most troubling events of our era. Here is what Martin Luther King had to say about the church becoming enmeshed in politics:
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
Somewhere along the path the Republican Party lost its way. But it should not lose hope because there is a pretty big signpost coming up this November. Actually, it would be more accurate to call it a two by four.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw[[In-content Ad]]
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