Heather Mac Donald is a priceless public intellectual. To call this particular piece not profound, however, is an understatement. Be that as it may, I mildly prefer verbiage about values that, like my own writing, isn't overtly theological. But I doubt there is any electorally significant windfall available from using that different language more often.
This discussion between Mac Donald and others isn't aimed at regular folks, though. It's aimed at intellectual types. Whether we believe in the Big Guy or not, it's important to show intellectuals -- who mostly don't believe in God, or don't believe in a God who controls our lives -- that you can be an atheist or agnostic and still a full-blown conservative. Frankly, if we leave conservatism completely to theists, in a less and less theistic age, we eventually give up the game politically speaking.