Replies

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.

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.