Last night, I had the pleasure of addressing the Washington Township GOP club along with a three other bloggers including Abdul to talk about the aftermath of election night. As we talked about how the GOP had lost its way and its message, he asked “what is a conservative?”. To answer him, I submit this:
No offense to Steele or your presentation of this as an answer, but this, for the most part, is confusing issues and principles that make a conservative a conservative. The best answer is still Fred on the Charlie Rose show. Here is Fred’s answer to the question:
ROSE: You constantly say in this campaign that you’re a conservative. What does that mean today?
THOMPSON: It means things that are consistent with God’s design for man. It’s consistent with human nature. It’s consistent with the lessons of history and the lessons of the ages. They found form in the Constitution, I think, and what our Founding Fathers believed. They understand that man can do great and wonderful things, but man is prone to err and times do terrible things, that too much power in too few hands is a dangerous thing. That power is a corrupting thing.
ROSE: In all of that you didn’t mention abortion, gay rights, all the things that have been part of recent presidential elections.
THOMPSON: Well, you’re talking about different things there. Those are issues that are before us which derive from principles. Principles are what guides you in coming to positions with regard to issues. You know, the Declaration of Independence said that basic rights come from God and not from man. The Founders talked about, you know, life and liberty and the importance of that, and that everything is based on those basic principles. And I take those principles and, you know, for example, I come to the pro-life conclusion there. And when we had issues, you know, for eight years when I was in the United States Senate about whether or not the federal government should be funding, for example, abortion-related activities and things of that nature, you know? The application of those principles in that instance told me the answer was no, properly.
Good response Joel. Makes me wish Fred still had the stamina for politics.
Supposedly Fred was working on a book deal. I hope that the book is an equivalent of Conscience of a Conservative.
Do conservatives really believe that the individual is basically good?
As Fred said: “They understand that man can do great and wonderful things, but man is prone to err and times do terrible things, that too much power in too few hands is a dangerous thing.”
It is a realization that man is both good, but fallen. The fallen nature of man is one of the reasons for a limited government as well as a government with checks and balances. But it is also a realization that by giving man freedom will result in wonderful things.
I would argue that some do. Remember that just because one is a conservative doesn’t mean that they are Christian (Heck, some Christians believe that the individual is basically good rather than fallen and in desperate need for a Savior).
Conservatism, while looking down on the importance of government, exalts the individual. It is the individual who makes a change. While that individual may be fallen, the idea is that they can bring about a positive change.
Not saying it’s right, just saying that’s my impression.
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