Posted on 02/16/2009 1:10:03 PM PST by jessduntno
Ten Conservative Principles (Abbreviated)
First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it.
Second, the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity. It is old custom that enables people to live together peaceably.
Third, conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. Conservatives sense that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see farther than their ancestors only because of the great stature of those who have preceded us in time.
Fourth, conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence. Burke agrees with Plato that in the statesman, prudence is chief among virtues.
Fifth, conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety. They feel affection for the proliferating intricacy of long-established social institutions and modes of life, as distinguished from the narrowing uniformity and deadening egalitarianism of radical systems.
Sixth, conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. Human nature suffers irremediably from certain grave faults, the conservatives know. To seek for utopia is to end in disaster: we are not made for perfect things.
Seventh, conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked. Separate property from private possession, and Leviathan becomes master of all.
Eighth, conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism. They are conspicuous for a successful spirit of community.
Ninth, the conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and human Passions. A state in which an individual or small group is able to dominate the wills of their fellows without check is despotism, whether it is monarchical or democratic.
Tenth, the thinking conservative favors reasoned and temperate progress, opposed to the cult of Progress, whose votaries believe that everything new necessarily is superior to everything old.
(Excerpt) Read more at kirkcenter.org ...
“What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?” Abraham Lincoln.
“Liberals and radicals, the conservative says, are imprudent: for they dash at their objectives without giving much heed to the risk of new abuses worse than the evils they hope to sweep away. As John Randolph of Roanoke put it, Providence moves slowly, but the devil always hurries. Human society being complex, remedies cannot be simple if they are to be efficacious. The conservative declares that he acts only after sufficient reflection, having weighed the consequences. Sudden and slashing reforms are as perilous as sudden and slashing surgery.”
We could start with 10 Consevative Commandants:
ONE: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’
TWO: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’
THREE: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’
FOUR: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’
FIVE: ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
SIX: ‘You shall not murder.’
SEVEN: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
EIGHT: ‘You shall not steal.’
NINE: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’
TEN: ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.’
bookmark
BTTT for truth.
“Nobody is at liberty to attack several property and to say at the same time that he values civilization. The history of the two cannot be disentangled.” Sir Henry Maine, in his Village Communities, puts strongly the case for private property, as distinguished from communal property.
“thought it might be a good President’s day gift”
...it’s President’s Day? I only call it that when there’s an actual President. A leader. Today is “Messiah” day!
Here is one Zero would like;
“For a nation is no stronger than the numerous little communities of which it is composed. A central administration, or a corps of select managers and civil servants, however well intentioned and well trained, cannot confer justice and prosperity and tranquility upon a mass of men and women deprived of their old responsibilities. That experiment has been made before; and it has been disastrous. It is the performance of our duties in community that teaches us prudence and efficiency and charity.”
No One Is Conservative Enough!
And...
Whatever Conservative Is, It Sure As Hell Ain't You!!!
“You forgot two FReeper axioms:
No One Is Conservative Enough!
And...
“Whatever Conservative Is, It Sure As Hell Ain’t You!!!”
I think I recently saw “My Conservativity can take your Conservativity!!!”
Thanks for the new tagline.
You are a Senator from Maine
You were ever a Governor of Massachusetts
You think 0bama deserves a honeymoon
You "reach across the aisle"
Hahahahaha. Apropos, that’s for sure...Zero has it tattooed on his forarm, I believe...
“You “reach across the aisle” “
What if you are reaching across the aisle to cuff a liberal upside the head???
Add to that these:
You ever granted amnesty to illegal aliens;
You ever "cut and run" our troops from a deployed area.
(This means that Ronald Reagan was a RINO, by FReeper standards, since he did both while in office).
Propaganda and Accepted Ignorance notwithstanding, today, the third Monday in February, is still officially recognized as the anniversary of George Washington's February 22 birthday. (The Monday shift was made in an Executive Order issued by Richard Nixon in 1971 to give federal and other employees yet another three-day weekend, thereby robbing this date and all the other affected ones, including the Glorious Fourth, of their historical distinction.)
Lincoln's birthday observance, however, isn't a federal holiday, but rather one of the (rapidly dwindling, appropriately for old Abe) options left to the several States.
Cobbling the two together is yet another creeping collectivist abomination.
The test is if you can explain these principles to others. I have given speeches on these and it is very difficult to do. A speech about free cheese is much more warmly received.
” A speech about free cheese is much more warmly received.”
Making it a speech about which you have become Fondue?
“(This means that Ronald Reagan was a RINO, by FReeper standards, since he did both while in office).”
Well, perhaps by Absolutist standards...I hope not otherwise...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.