In God we trust (Coulter:Conservatives by and large believe in God, Liberals believe they are Gods)

Worldnetdaily ^ | 7/4/03 | Kevin McCullough

[lelio]

They have been on the wrong side of history ? at least American history ? primarily because they have been on the wrong side of God.

Well that's certainly a strong statement.

[ricpic]

Although I agree with this article I have one quibble. Must you be religious to be conservative? I am not a believer. But experience has taught me that man's nature (and mine) is deeply flawed; what the religious would call fallen. It is from that realization that humility, and conservatism, flow. After all, if man is flawed, a resistance to unchecked power in the name of some utopian goal, follows. That is the essence of the conservative temperament.

All I am saying, is that conservatism's ranks would be greatly enlarged, if it were not equated exclusively with those who have religious belief.

[ThePythonicCow]

Well said - the crux of the matter, in my view.

Thanks for the post.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

[Liberal elites] believe that the state (similarly to socialism) is the great giver. Conservatives believe that God is.

Liberal elites want lust for credit for making the state the great giver. And they want fear of (but not effective political opposition to) their making the state the great taker.

They lust for power.

[fporretto]

Even though I know many non-religious conservatives like yourself, I feel that the essential thesis of the article is metaphorically true -- and that you have the right of it as well.

"God," as used here, is the source of invariant laws that cannot be swept aside at whim or repealed by an act of some legislature. Such laws can only proceed from a fundamental, objective reality that inheres in all things. Catholics, among others, call it Natural Law and strive to conform to it.

If you believe in such a Law, then you must also accept that there are inescapable consequences for trying to violate it -- that your intentions, no matter how benign, are essentially irrelevant. It's an expression of humility, an admission that your powers and understanding are finite.

Therein lies the cleavage between conservatives and liberals. No liberal will admit that intentions don't matter in determining the effects from a specified cause. No liberal will admit that there are processes beyond his ability to curb by political means.

It's less a religious matter, strictly speaking, than a matter of self-exaltation.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

experience has taught me that man's nature (and mine) is deeply flawed; what the religious would call fallen. It is from that realization that humility, and conservatism, flow.

Quite.

It is also true that Christian doctrine teaches that our sin is simultaneously crucial--implying seperation from God--and unimportant, because accounted for by the blood of Christ to those whose humility allows them to accept God's gift of it.

And that such humility is itself a gift of God, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

[DPB101]

Although I agree with this article I have one quibble. Must you be religious to be conservative?

Not that I see. For reasons I cannot fathom however, many secular conservatives see those who are faithful as a threat. I don't understand that. They should be allies. The more people who look to a higher power than the state, the better off everyone is. Rather than encourage believers in their faith, secular conservatives seem to spend more time arguing with them, calling them superstitious or irrational and trying to draw them away from their faith.

Of course this goes the other way too...but Christians do have a duty to proselytize--doing so is an integral part of their faith. Secular conservatives may feel such an impluse but there is really no reason for it. Better off to let believers be and be glad they aren't looking to government to solve all their problems.

[abclily]

Liberals think they are gods in that they believe if they get enough power they can legislate human nature. In reality, as history proves, when they get enough power they legislate human misery. May the God of love and mercy be with us all.

[goldstategop]

Liberals are moral relativists. Of course they don't believe in organized religion. The ACLU is busy trying to stamp out God from America. Giving credence to the idea that society has values from past generations worth preserving is anathema to liberals. Especially when it goes under the yardstick of right and wrong. Liberals believe man is the ultimate repository of wisdom, authority, and action. Liberals believe progress is the motor of history and every thing that stands against it is to be swept out of its path. So no, liberals and conservatives have nothing in common. Unless there are some weak kneed Republicans ("useful idiots," as Lenin scornfully called such types) who want to advance the liberal agenda, the Left has no use for us. To put it bluntly we are their enemy.

[RaceBannon]

you know the rules....(sigh)

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[Ff--150]

Conservatives, by and large believe in God, and liberals believe they are gods," came the reply.

How simply put, LoL! Happy 4th to all...

[alnick]

Although I agree with this article I have one quibble. Must you be religious to be conservative?

The article does not imply anything of the kind. Ann's quote is, "Conservatives, by and large, believe in God."

No one said that it's a requirement.

[Pete]

For anyone who wishes to pursue this issue (and it's consequences) in depth, I suggest Chuck Colson's "How Now Shall We Live". He lays out the issues with great clarity and provides factual evidence for the truth.

When I get some time, I will post some excerpts. Every page is great but there is particulary excellent chapter on judicial activism in the last thirty yeas. Not only does he reference specific cases but he presents the genesis of the activism as well as the consequences.

[exit82]

Race, if we could Photoshop wings to that picture, we would know what an angel looks like.

Hope you are mending well. Happy 4th to you.

[evad]

Although I agree with this article I have one quibble. Must you be religious to be conservative?

I think that's a "major" quibble and I find myself in the same position. Although I consider myself a staunch conservative my logic and intellect will not permit me to believe in many of the dogmas of the various religions.

Belief in a divine being is one thing. Belief in religion is totally different...IMO.

[robertpaulsen]

John Adams had some great things to say about it:

"It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. Religion and virtue are the only foundations ... of republicanism and of all free governments."

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . ... Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

[shiva]

All I am saying, is that conservatism's ranks would be greatly enlarged, if it were not equated exclusively with those who have religious belief.

What do you suggest?

[sweetliberty]

"Well that's certainly a strong statement."

Strong yes, but it is because it is true. I have been saying this for years. The reason they work so hard against Christians and Christian beliefs is that they are the only thing standing in the way of liberalism/socialism completely dominating our way of life in America. Think about it. As the Scriptures say, no one can serve two masters for he will love the one and hate the other. As long as there are people who worship the true God and take Him at His word and proclaim His word in a way as to influence others, the evil designs of the liberal ideology cannot be fully implemented, therefore Christians are a constant obstruction on the road to their socialist utopia. They believe that if they can at least drive the Christians underground and out of the public eye, while at the same time disseminating the notion among an increasingly unchurched population that the Bible teaches hate, they will have it licked.

Their lack of understanding is glaring. In fairness to those who are simply deceived, I do not believe for a minute that their own feeble little brains concocted such notions, but that the archetype was birthed in the pit of hell and is nurtured by Satan himself. Their leaders are often evil personified, such as the Clintons, and most of us wouldn't even be surprised to see horns pop right out of their heads at some point in the middle of one of their obfuscation speeches. Their followers though, are most often either adherents to some imaginary notion that their Robin Hood ideology will somehow make life better for the perpetually castigated underclass and that absolute equality breeds content. Still others are just mindless idiots who either cannot or will not think for themselves and will gladly follow the one with the greatest emotional appeal, which will almost always be the democrats. What they fail to understand is that such a system as they dream of, at the point of becoming self-sustaining, would cast off its enablers as surely as the womb expels the afterbirth following the delivery of a child. They would then become as much a part of the slave class as the rest of us, all working to support the new elites. At that point, any church, not state approved, would be forbidden because the truth of God's word would be an abiding threat even then.

[ricpic]

I have been secular my whole life. As far as I can tell, some believe, others don't. I know that that sounds simple minded. But we are talking about a mystery here. Some respond. Some don't. Or put more accurately, some aren't aware of that which is overwhelming to others.

At the risk of being called a materialist I would almost say that some have a belief "gene" which others lack.

Without falling into "can't we all just get along" drivel, it does seem to me that each party should be able to acknowledge that the other can arrive at a legitimate conservative stance, coming from a different perspective relative to faith. And yet this rarely happens.

I do acknowledge that what undergirds most conservative thought is faith based: There is a God. Man is made in God's image. Therefore Man (in his essence) is sacred. Conservative thought follows from that apprehension.

But can you be legitimately conservative without having faith? Can you, without faith, treat other men not as things, but as finally unknowable not be transgressed on others? I don't see why not.