[Cathryn Crawford]

Ping! If you want on or off this list, let me know.

And a special thank you to CyberCowboy777. :-)

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Dan from Michigan]

Think Bill Bennett

Or Tim Hutchinson.

[EdReform]

Add me to your ping list, please!

[KC Burke]

Russell Kirk, who many count among the 3 or 4 revitalizers of twentieth century conservatism, says in his Ten Conservative Principles chapter of The Politics of Prudence the following about his first of those ten principles:

First, the conservative believes there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permenant.

This word order signifies harmony. There are two aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul, and the outer order of the commonwealth. Twentyfive centuries ago, Plato taught this doctrine , but even the educated nowadays find it difficult to understand. The problem of order has been the principle concern of conservatives ever since conservative has become a term of politics.

Our twentieth century world has experienced the hideous consequences of the collapse of belief in a moral order. Like the atrocities and disasters of Greece in the fifth century before Christ, the ruin of great nations in our century shows us the pit into which fall societies that mistake clever self-interest, or ingenious social controls, for pleasing alternatives to an oldfangled moral order.

It has been said by liberal intellectuals, that the conservative believes all social questions, at heart, to be questions of private morality. Properly understood, this statement is quite true. A society in which men and women are governed by belief in an enduring moral order, by a strong sense of right and wrong, by personal convictions about justice and honor, will be a good society -- whatever political machinery it may utilize, while a society in which men and women are morally adrift, ignorant of norms, and intent chiefly upon gratification of appetites, will be a bad society -- no matter how many people vote and no matter how liberal its formal constitution may be.

So, you see, you are in the grand tradition with your observations.

[patton]

What do you know about it, anyway? ;)

[MissAmericanPie]

We do eat our own when they fail to hold the line. We should.

[tpaine]

All the strong positions on gun rights, abortion, free speech – all can be traced back to moral reasoning.
The Constitution itself was originally founded on moral beliefs about the best way a government would serve its citizens.
-CC-

---

Yes indeed, "the Constitution itself was originally founded on moral beliefs about the best way a government would serve its citizens", -- with severe restrictions placed on what ~extent~ it could so serve.

The problems come when some conservatives [& all liberals] demand that our governments write laws that serve special interests, and infringe upon the rights of others.

[CyberCowboy777]

Thanks for the ping!

A question. Can Conservatives swell their ranks with new non-traditional (not religious) numbers without relinquishing Moral Absolutes?

[CyberCowboy777]

Striving for Liberty and Morality always leads to Prosperity.

That is Conservatisim.

[Travis McGee]

Cathryn, you're really a worldly-wise crusty 50 year old writer pretending to me a college student, right? Right?

[azGOPgal]

You articulate your point very well.
Is your work published on campus?



Please put me on your ping list. Thank you.

[ValenB4]

Cathryn - Your brilliance is one of the few voices of reason in a world gone amok. Your writing style is crisp and elegant, with a subtle, yet non-pretentious sophistication that can be appreciated by all, including the many slow thinkers on FR.

My dear friend Sounds - I can only thank you for diligently posting her articles on such a consistent basis. It is often said that those who cannot create brilliance are better served by spreading the words of others. Well done.

[ImpBill]

Excellent piece. Thank you. JMO, but I believe you postulate the ideal; morality is conservatism. This is true for the traditionally valued conservative. Secular society has seemed to blur the lines however. We now seem to have social conservatism and political conservatism and they don't always tend to aim or arrive at the same destination. Our republic founded upon Judeo/Christian values was privilaged to have a group of people, steeped in those values which penned the greatest document man has devised to govern a society based upon equality and fraternity, thereby allowing any within that society to strive and achieve based upon the effort any particular individual wished to exert, or not as the case may be. That Constitution and Bill of Rights set forth the basic tenants of our republic. The rights and responsibilities laid forth in that document are as valid today as the day they were written.

However, our secular society, today has gorged upon the rights and at the same time seems to want to forget the responsibilites that go along with them, regardless of which political label the individual labels himself.

We don't need to re-invent the wheel. It is all there for us to follow and yet we don't. The solution is to follow our Constitution as written and not keep tampering with this article or that to fit our situation. I am not sure we can get back from whence we came.

Ben Franklin opined, and I paraphrase. This great experiment of government, of, for, and by the people, will only work until "the people" believe they can vote themselves anything they like. Unfortunately I believe we crossed that Rubicon years ago.

There was an interesting question postulated: "Can a liberal be moral?" It is a good question. And can a moral person be liberal, is also a good question. Liberalism in it's inception wasn't immoral. However, just as Constitutional conservatism seems to have been hijacked, so it seems has liberalism (today called progressivism).

Here is a link to an interesting thread I bookmarked a couple of years ago that you might find an interesting read. I know I did. It took me some re-reading to grasp it all, but when I did it was illuminating.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/621855/posts

I enjoy reading your commentary. Keep up the excellent work.