Posted on 05/13/2005 6:37:59 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
What does it mean to be conservative and Christian in a red and blue America?
Chuck Colson recently attempted to answer that question in a speech he gave to the Council for National Policy. The answer he gave was not the answer you might expect. But I believe it was an answer that a lot of us need to hear. Judging from the response Chuck received from the audience—a group made up of many different races and backgrounds—they felt the same way.
The theory of a divided America is a very popular one these days. In fact, some people positively seem to revel in the idea. In his speech, Chuck cited columnist Thomas Friedman, who wrote after the election, “What troubled me . . . was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for Bush by people who don’t just favor different policies from me—they favor a whole different kind of America from me. We don’t just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is.” As you’re probably aware, Friedman is hardly the only American who feels like that.
And there is some truth to that view. But it doesn’t have to be that way. While it’s important for us to take a strong stand for revealed truth, we have to recognize that we can’t just be part of a war of ideologies. As the great conservative author Russell Kirk said, ideology is the enemy—of the Gospel, and of conservatism as well. Clashing utopian schemes are not going to get us anywhere.
Chuck believes, as I do, that conservatives “have a responsibility to reach out across that ideological divide” and to help our opponents not to feel like aliens in their own country. I’m not saying that’s an easy task. We have to truly live out the ideals we believe in—ideals like “tradition and order and a sense of personal responsibility and religion,” as Chuck put it. That’s how we can show people that Christians and conservatives really do have something valuable to say. And furthermore, we have the credibility to say it.
Chuck gave the example of Prison Fellowship’s work among the “most marginalized” members of society. As we serve prison inmates, we help them understand that redemption is possible for everyone. But we also help others to understand that “a Christian understanding of life is one that brings people hope and can restore them back to society.”
A key role of government is to work for the common good. Unfortunately, a liberal worldview fails, in one sense, in that it doesn’t believe in a common good. But in a society where 83 percent of our teenagers believe there’s no such thing as moral truth, even liberals are recognizing that something’s wrong. By sharing our vision of revealed truth, and by authentically living out that vision in our everyday lives, we can try to help everyone see past all our divisions to the common good that exists for us all.
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BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!
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Why do we always read about Conservatives having to "reach out" to liberals?
When did liberals "reach out" to Conservatives when they were in power?
If this country is divided it's because of liberal policies that lead to a division between people who want to live their lives without government controls and those who want government to control everyone.
The only time liberals "reach out" is when they want to take something, and they've finally gotten their hand slapped. Liberals have tried to create an alien, Utopian, fantasy, world for themselves, and when reality set in Conservatives are suppose to "help them not feel like aliens". Let's all grieve for the poor liberals.
Well said. Never seen liberals "reach out" unless they are going for my pocket.
I completely agree with you. It's conservatives who feel like aliens in their own country. The liberals are the ones who want to change this country into something different from what it's always been. Therefore, the burden is on them to explain why a different America would be better. It's up to them to reach out to conservatives, not the other way around.
The contrast between those two pictures is so stark it's jarring. On one side, reality, on the other is outlandish fantasy. In your opinion, why do you think homosexuals make themselves up like freakish clowns?
Today's Left do nothing and have done nothing but lash out against tradition for over 100 years. They are 100% wrong, and we are 100% right. End of discussion.
because they can...
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