Posted by
voice_of_reason on Sunday, March 11, 2007 4:15:44 PM
I maintain that if a conservative position can't be defended based on fundamental rights, the constitution or objective law, then it is lost.
Note: that does not constitute an anti-Religious sentiment. What it does mean is that I accept the reality that issues cannot be decided in modern America on a religious basis alone.
My preference is to be politically atheistic, keeping my religious values private. This platform begets moral consistency - I can speak loudly from self-interest, and ignore any of the platitudes that are based on 'helping' the down-trodden.
The fact that the pursuit of self-interest actually
helps the down-trodden (by reducing their numbers significantly) bolsters the pragmatic
and moral case for such a stance.
Also, separating religion from politics forces us to make consistent policy decisions on social issues. In a previous
article, I present such an approach to the Gay Marriage issue.
I don't expect all conservatives to agree with my position(s) on social issues, but it is difficult to argue against consistency.
My point is that Christianity (and most other institutionalized religions) preach the virtues of self-sacrifice. There is also a tendency to glorify the downtrodden. Once ingrained with those concepts, people are programmed to accept Socialism.
Leftists have exploited this weakness. It is also the reason why good people begin their lives as leftists (it just
seems like the moral high ground), until their life experiences make the blinders come off. Think of the cliche "if you aren't a liberal at age 20, you have no heart; if you aren't a conservative at age 40, you have no brain!"
The fact that a large percentage of older American Conservatives are Christian actually shows that many are able to separate Religious Self-sacrifice from their politics and embrace Capitalism instead. It is also telling that there are quite a few Christians who switch from the Left to the Right in their 30s and 40s.
However, it is an indisputable fact that we lose many good (mostly younger) Christians to the Left. If we stop to think
why that happens, we will find that it is because of this dichotomy - good Christians truly want to help the needy; as a direct consequence, taxation for the benefit of others is acceptable to them. Building on this mindset, it is easy to see why so many Christians support welfare programs, public education, universal health care and other Leftist entitlement programs.
It is very difficult for religious conservatives to argue that taxation for the purpose of entitlements is immoral. Pick any of the above programs and try to put forth a
moral argument against it (other than the
pragmatic argument that it just will not work).
So, does anyone want to make a
moral argument against welfare, public education or universal health care? Try it and you will find yourself 'dancing on the head of a pin' to avoid a religious contradiction. Or, try to justify the conservative stance on illegal immigration - besides the law-breaking, aren't
they just hardworking, good, unfortunate people who want jobs?
But what is it that makes people consent to such policies? Why have so many generations of people fallen for the
concept of Communism or socialism? What is it that glorifies 're-distribution' to the point that no one dare oppose it for the evil that it truly represents?
Obviously, once a country is in the hands of Communists, they are able to use force to stay in power. But what would you say about our own country's voluntary, but inevitably leftward slide? What makes people voluntarily vote in favor of socialist programs such as public education, welfare, universal health care - and continue to support them
despite the obvious failures?
After all, there is such a thing as the "consent of the governed". And, if the governed (read: voters) are susceptible to the creed of self-sacrifice, they are prime targets for re-distributionist ideas.
And
that is the point - the concept of self-sacrifice loads the dice in favor of socialism. Since the creed of self-sacrifice comes from institutionalized religion, I state that socialists take advantage of our 'religious bias towards self-sacrifice' and subvert it for their purposes.
If we don't understand the origin of our society's attraction to socialist ideas, we will not be able to defeat socialism.