unConservative: Part 1
Today I am beginning a new series (of which I am not completely sure how many parts there will be) entitled, “unConservative.” The concept of the series comes from the book by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons called, “unChristian.” As I have been reading that book, the obvious parallel between the message of “unChristian” and how I see the current state of conservatism is astounding. I hope you enjoy and I greatly covet your comments.
Troy
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“Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like “hypocritical,” “insensitive,” and “judgmental,” young Americans share an impression of Christians that’s nothing short of…unChristian.”
Parallel that to…
Conservatives are supposed to represent traditional moral, conservative values to the world. But according to the results of recent elections, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like “unethical,” “corrupt,” and “moderate,” most Americans share an impression of Conservatives that’s nothing short of…unConservative.
Our country was founded on basic moral and social principles of individual rights, limited government, low taxes, and a true “representative” government held accountable by strict oversight. That oversight does not stem from another government bureaucracy, but rather from the American people themselves. Throughout our country’s birth, our forefathers spoke out against the tyranny of England’s rule, specifying such atrocities as totalitarian government control in all aspects of individuals lives (see Declaration of Independence,) depriving religious freedom (see Articles of Confederation, among others,) increasingly higher taxes (see Declaration,) and many more “usurpations” (I love that word…it’s all over the Declaration.) These founders based these standards of government on their personal belief in, in their own words, “their Creator,” “nature’s God,” and “Divine Providence.” The core values of our founding documents were written by men who found their core values written in Scripture.
Over time, various leaders, such as Lincoln, diligently sought to govern by those same core values. He, too, found his core in Scripture, and saw the “unalienable rights” of Americans as a matter of principle, not opinion. Even more recent conservative leaders, such as Reagan, governed by the core values of our conservative history.
Recently, a member of the popular social network, Twitter, made this comment. “Conservatism means little unless you can clearly articulate what you’re conserving. Few have successfully done that.” There is a lot of truth in that statement. First, conservatives, throughout history, have done a good job of clearly defining what it is they stood for (see above examples from our founding fathers on down.) The problem has become that recent “conservative” leadership has chosen to compromise or even abandon those defined principles to the point it isn’t clear anymore what they stand for. I agree that, recently, “few have successfully done that,” and that, I believe, is the cause of our fall from leadership.
Americans find it hard to trust someone who doesn’t have strong convictions one way or another, and, the majority of Americans (according to all of the recent research) still believe in those basic core, conservative values our forefathers fought for. Conservative Americans are looking for conservative leadership, yet all they are finding is anything but. Americans are seeing conservatives act “unConservative,” therefore, their ability to trust is fragile at best. It’s not that conservatism is losing, it’s just that conservatives are losing their confidence in their leadership.
The next several posts will dive deeper into recent “unConservative” actions of our modern leadership, America’s response to that “unConservative” representation, and the truth that if honest conservatives will choose to rise up and abolish recent “unConservative” action, conservatism can and will win.
I look forward to your comments!
Troy G. White
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