Commentary: Is Conservatism Dead?

#1321c
John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)
Given 07-May-16; 13 minutes

A couple of weeks ago, because the terms "conservatism" and "liberalism" are so very often in the news these days because of the presidential primary, I gave you dictionary definitions of both so you might be more precisely correct in your understanding ["Conservatism and Liberalism"].

I will repeat what the dictionaries states: “Conservatism is the inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order, traditional institutions and distrust of government and activism, and opposition to sudden change.”

Liberalism is virtually the opposite: “Characterized by or inclining toward opinions or policies favoring progress or reform, as in politics or religion; not intolerant, or prejudiced, broadminded.” When applied specifically to religion, I thought the definition was quite interesting: “A movement or tendency verging on secular humanism and rejecting much orthodox theology.”

These terms are on the minds of many this particular week because Ted Cruz, a man whose reputation is built on his life of political and religious conservatism, retired from the primary campaigns because it was perceived he had no chance of winning the candidacy from Donald Trump.

The Republican Party has the reputation of being the conservative party, but it is rather easily seen by means of even casual observation that the Republican Party, in practice, is only marginally less liberal than the Democratic. There was a time when these positions were much further apart. The divide then between the two was very real and the two differed with each other vehemently. That’s not so in our times.

The Republican Party presently has voting control of the Federal government’s Senate and House of Representatives. But even with that advantage the members have done almost nothing to stop the steamroller effect of President Obama to install Socialism full scale as the way of American government. This failure is largely responsible for the intensity of the present primary campaign.

Together, both houses of Congress could virtually stop Obama in his tracks but they’ve done nothing, thus leading observers to the conclusion is that since there is so little opposition from the Republicans, there is little fundamental political difference in terms of belief between the two.

Thus, the rise of the derogatory term, RINOs, meaning "Republican in name only," applied to many prominent Republicans. This term designates those so named are registered Republican only because they live in a district where Republicans are easily elected. Such people are clearly political hypocrites, identifying with one party when they are actually of the other.

The conclusion is, I believe, inescapable. The American people are being steamrolled into Socialism, and in the process, giving away many, many of their liberties for what they see as a free ride to easy handouts of money.

I believe that when Americans speak of liberalism and conservatism most of the time it is within the context of the larger, broader topics of politics and economics. Some few may speak of them in terms of religion, but only very serious observers of religion tend to do this. The man on the street has hardly enough understanding to even begin to do so.

Why? I believe there are two foundational reasons: One is because of the decline of truly orthodox teaching by the churches. Thus, religious orthodoxy isn’t even in mind. The second is because liberals overwhelmingly control government education in America. This is a major reason why I gave that commentary series on the philosophers ["Mightier Than the Sword"]. Those philosophers were almost overwhelmingly liberal in their theoretical anti-God concepts.

Those anti-God concepts found their way into the universities, and that in turn paved the teaching way to lower educational levels. Thus, Western world public educational institutions all the way down to elementary school levels extol liberalism while at the same time denigrating conservative concepts.

Writing against liberal teaching in elementary schools has become forceful on conservative websites as writers are urging people to either home school their children, enroll them in church schools, or enter them into charter schools.

This is a little aside, but we can thank the Republicans that charter schools even exist. President Bush was strongly in favor of them as an alternative to the government schools. He had to fight tooth and toenail against the Teacher’s Union, which is arguably the strongest union in the U.S., and they were strongly against competition from the charter schools.

In America, most conservative-thinking folk tend to also be religious. Professional politicians know this well. And as religious liberalism has increased, so also has immorality because people’s moral beliefs have become detached from the moral base, which is the Bible in general and the Ten Commandments more specifically.

This greatly affects whether a person will think conservatively or liberally. And as religious liberality has increased, the conservative power of the Republican Party has decreased except, in some Bible Belt states. Most of the Bible Belt states are here in the southeast between Texas and the Carolinas.

Conservatism is not dead because God is not dead. Listen carefully to this. How are the levels and standards of conservatism and liberalism judged? In order to be judged fairly, they must measured against some standards that do not change.

God states clearly that He does not change, and Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever. God’s laws do not change in relation to what men call conservatism and liberalism. However, standards amongst men are always in flux depending upon what is held by them—not God—to be the present standard. Consider how men’s standards have changed over the past 70 years! Just as an example, what you see on television today never would have been shown in 1950. That is how much the standard has changed, just in one area of our lives.

Therefore, by definition, God is the most conservative of all living beings. And the laws that flow from Him are the set standards, and therefore they are also the most conservative. And that, brethren, is why men hate His laws: They aren't liberal. Because God is alive, conservatism is not dead.

What is the most liberal position that there has ever been on earth? You know what it is, but I will tell you anyway. The last verse in the book of Judges says,

Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Think about that, because I think it is going to be my next commentary. We haven't reached that place yet, but we are headed there.

JWR/aws/dcg