Real conservatism is about looking to the principles and processes of the past that have been worthwhile, productive, and honorable. It is about honoring our spiritual heritage that has built our system...specifically, the Christian heritage.
How can George Will, an atheist, be a conservative? He cannot be. How can libertarianism or neo-conservatism creep into conservatism with their penchant for atheism/agnosticm and for modernism, idealism, and rationalism? They cannot be.
The national review is not conservative is the best sense of the word.
I've met, and had discourse with atheists who were pro-life, not anti-Christian, and held 90% compatibility with conservatism.
I've also met the and had discourse with the opposite: Christians who are off the chart in their liberal propensities.
Generally I agree, but that's a broad brush, perhaps a bit too broad.
Indeed, dear brother in Christ, I'm scratching my head over that question, too.
Precisely, how can an atheist be a conservative? It seems that would depend on the answer to the question: What is it that an atheist conservative seeks to conserve?
I suppose the instant, emphatic atheist conservative answer might be: Why, the U.S. Constitution itself!!!
And yet, how can an atheist uphold a constitution that is ultimately founded in the Judeo-Christian tradition -- whose very foundational principle is that human liberty is a grant of God, thus completely inalienable by the recipient, which is to say, even if one wanted to give up such inalienable liberties, one could never do so. Because they are grants of God, and thus the foundational parts of human nature itself that no state may infringe.
How can an atheist defend the Judeo-Christian roots of American order, when the atheist thinks he can dispense of God Himself, Who framed this revolutionary novo ordo seclorum, this "new order for the ages," as understood in the imaginations and culture of the Framers as set down in the founding documents that constitute the very order of the United States of America? Signally, the Declaration of Independence; the Preamble to the Constitution; and the language of the Constitution itself, especially including the Bill of Rights?
I'd love to ask George Will that question. If he kills the root, what is there left to defend?
Probably George Will is unavailable to answer this question. But I'd be very glad if some other conservative atheist from around these parts would step up to the plate and explain this mystery to me.
Again, the question is very simple: What is it an atheist would like to "conserve?"
Thank you ever so much for writing, dear brother in Christ! It is always such a pleasure to hear from you.
p.s.: My trial hypothesis: Kick the atheists out of the "conservative" category altogether, and call them for what they really are: Libertarians.