Perhaps the most debilitating attitude expressed by conservatives is reasonableness. It manifests itself as a willingness to compromise. When confronted by leftist fanatics a conservative will typically buckle rather than face a blizzard of accusation.
An undying commitment to reasonbleness means being able to see both (or all) sides of an argument. The result of all this gentlemanly conduct usually results in surrendering some small ground in order to maintain good fellowship. Where, precisely, does this get us? From the perspective of our adversary it simply means that we can be bullied into surrender, or, at least, hushed up.
What happens when the spirit of the French Revolution meets the Spirit of the American Revolution on the battlefield. We shall see, for, this is truly the business we are about.
Thank you for sharing your insights, dear Amos!
Please excuse me, dear Amos, my brother in Christ, but it seems to me we're not talking about the "reason" of certain "conservatives" here. We're talking in much more general terms, about the spinelessness of people who choose not to live in, nor carry on, the tradition in which they were raised. As if it had no value, or relevance to the personal/social conditions of our age....
But what good is a "conservative" who will not "conserve?" That he's "forgotten" [or didn't even bother to learn in the first place] whatever it was he was supposed to "conserve" is no excuse.
Instead, he should remember....
There's nothing "reasonable" about being "unreasonable"....
Oh, it's late, probably well past my bedtime!
So I'll just say good-night, and God bless, to any person reading these lines.
May God's' blessings be upon you!
And on you, dear Amos! Good night! Sleep tight!
There's a really good illustration of precisely these dynamics in the "Cordova Center" controversy at Ground Zero.... Moreover this controversy shows that enemies of our law use our law to advance their interests/designs. The "logic" here, to me, is that the proposed mosque must be built at Ground Zero, for the same reason that the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem HAD to be built on the Temple Mount, on the very footprint of the destroyed Solomon's Temple. Al-Aqsa is a monument to the victory of Islam over the West, which is to say the Judeo-Christian tradition. As I believe the Cordova Center would be also, assuming it is built.
Perhaps only Muslims understand this "logic."
Then again, your "average people" seem to get the message, as the polls are showing opposition to building the mosque at Ground Zero at around 70%. Unfortunately, the political class in NYC is blinded by their doctrinaire assumptions about "peace" and "tolerance" and "building understanding among peoples," yada yada yada. All of which assumes that The Other Side is also engaged in good-faith concern about such matters, that this is their motive for building.
The political class simply has no right to assume this. The "average people" know better, and are increasingly frustrated by the arrogance, unaccountability, and irrationality of the political class....
Thank you for your wonderful observations, dear Amos! Certainly the commitment to civility and honesty in one's dealings gives an advantage to an adversary who does not consider himself bound by these rules. A Muslim can lie to an unbeliever with impunity; Allah does not at all object to this. Indeed, lying is often necessary in order to advance the global interests of Allah.... The end justifies the means....