Posted on 03/04/2009 10:55:38 AM PST by rabscuttle385
Genuine conservatism is a three-legged stool. We believe that reclaiming America requires spiritual renewal, political reform, and social relief. Not one or the other, but all three. Take away one leg or the other, and the stool falls over. True conservatives do not have to choose between them, but willingly and gladly embrace all of them and want each leg to be strong and steady.
Conservatives know and believe, for instance, that it is impossible for America to be great again without a renewal of its faith. We must have a fresh spiritual awakening to counter the decay and rot that have settled into the American soul and our public life.
Conservatives agree wholeheartedly with John Adams, who said, "We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions which are unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Conservatives have always led the way in social relief efforts, whether the issue is feeding the poor, healing the sick or rehabilitating the wayward. People of faith have always set the pace and the standard when it comes to directly touching the lives of the hurting with the compassion of Jesus, pulling drowning people, so to speak, out of the river.
And conservatives also believe we need public policy that is consistent with the overarching values of the Judeo-Christian tradition so that we keep as many people as possible from getting thrown in the river in the first place.
Believing as we do that God has granted unique gifts and abilities to us all, we recognize that each of us will have a different role to play in restoring America to greatness. And at different times, our energies may be focused on a different dimension of this battle for the soul of our culture.
In my own case, for instance, I spent 25 years as a pastor, working directly and intensely for spiritual renewal. I've spent the last 3 ½ years working on public policy reform and on promoting and defending our values in the public arena. Other good friends of mine spent a decade or more in public policy work and now are focused on social relief efforts.
And while our particular calling may be in one specific arena of these three, we can and must support and commend those who are working faithfully to advance the cause in the other two dimensions. It's time for all of us to pull on our own oar and cheer for those who are pulling theirs.
ON THE LEADERSHIP VACUUM AMONG EVANGELICALS
In evangelical circles, this is a time of transition as Dr. James Dobson has stepped down from his role as chairman of Focus on the Family, although he will continue his radio presence and public advocacy for traditional values.
Dr. Dobson has been a faithful champion of the Judeo-Christian tradition in public life, and in my judgment was the single most important American in the decade of the 1990s.
It is not yet clear who will take Dr. Dobson's place as the most principled, visible and influential evangelical leader, but that individual must be found.
ON THE LEADERSHIP VACUUM IN THE GOP
In political circles, there has been much bloviating about the role and influence of Rush Limbaugh in the conservative movement in general and the GOP in particular. There is little question in my mind that, when it comes to thinking about public policy, he is the single most influential voice for conservatism in America today. The conservative movement is, in large measure, Rush Limbaugh and the Seven Dwarfs.
His supposed pomposity, in my judgment, is nothing more than a part of his entertaining shtick. Even he refers to himself frequently as a "harmless little fuzzball," indicating he's just having fun. But his political philosophy is dead serious.
GOP leaders tied themselves up in knots over the weekend trying to figure out how to position themselves vis-à-vis Mr. Limbaugh and his thunderous reception at CPAC, with party chairman Michael Steele suicidally calling Limbaugh's remarks "incendiary" and "ugly," and Eric Cantor trying to finesse the "I hope he fails" position Limbaugh has taken with regard to President Obama's policies.
But if they have a problem with Limbaugh being the leader of the conservative movement, then they had better get busy finding another champion. Limbaugh has become the de facto leader of conservatives because there is a vacuum at the top and he's the one filling it. Steele certainly forfeited his chance to be that guy by using the leading exponent of conservatism for target practice on national TV.
If for some reason they want to distance themselves from Limbaugh, they need to zero in on this question: What public policy positions has Limbaugh ever advocated that they disagree with? I'm guessing they won't find any.
As the constant stream of critical press releases from the RNC prove, Limbaugh's critics do not want President Obama's policies to succeed any more than Limbaugh does. Obama's policy prescriptions are bad for the country, bad for our economy, bad for the moral fiber of the American people, and contrary to virtually every element of principled conservatism.
Until they can come up with someone better, they'll need to be content for Limbaugh to be the spokesman for the movement, and cheer Mr. Limbaugh while he pulls the oar. After all, he's got 20 million people a day listening to him. How many people are listening to them?
If they distance themselves from Limbaugh, they risk alienating his 20 million listeners (read: voters; read: conservative base). Does that make any sense unless he's just flat wrong on the issues?
If they like Rush's message — and they better, because it is undiluted, unapologetic conservatism — then they'd better get past the superficial issue of the way he presents himself and become his biggest cheerleaders. The bigger his audience is, the better for the conservative movement in America, the better for America's future, and incidentally the better for the GOP. And the sooner Michael Steele gets it, the better.
Obama, Emmanuel, and Gibbs— three two-legged tools.
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The conservative movement: a three legged stool.
The RINO “movement”: just a stool. No legs.
(or brains or anything else useful)
Thanks for posting this.
I truly believe that moral conservatism is essential to the success of this nation.
McCain wants to turn the 3 legged stool upside down to allow 3 log cabin republicans a seat.
There, I tied in RINOs, morals and pandering ;)
BAD DOG
LMAO!
Your stool won’t stand.
Faith means belief without and in spite of the evidence. With that as your base, you won’t be able to choose the nature or extent of political reform that will work in the real world. That requires adherence to reason, reality, and logic. Faith is the exact opposite.
Social relief means you are in agreement with the policies of the left. You simply disagree with who pays, who gets, how much, how fast, and for what justification. There is nothing of substance that is different between your position and the left.
It is a three legged stool with one leg in common with the left, the second leg is a wishful fantasy, and the third leg relies on accident to happen.
Man does not live by bread alone. There will be no conservative movement without religious and social conservatives. A society won't work just with materialism. It's silly when fiscal conservatives speak as if it can or as if Social Darwinism is the essence of conservatism.
Faith in the one true God of this world is the only force that has kept mankind from rabid degeneracy. To deny that is irrational, illogical, and false.
So....you're describing secular humanism, with its ridiculous and unsubstantiatable view of human nature?
“Steele certainly forfeited his chance to be that guy by using the leading exponent of conservatism for target practice on national TV.”
IMHO Steele forfeited his chance by being a RINO, long before this happened. This only allowed all conservatives to see Steele for who he really is and did conservatives a favor.
BTTT
Obama, Emmanuel, and Gibbs— three two-legged Fools
The conflict comes from federal judges and federal welfare programs.
Get the feds out of American culture.
Beat it, blog pimp.
I didn’t realize the Japanese, Chinese, Indians, etc. where all Christian... or even monotheistic.
The evidence of Triune God:
The Creation is evidence of the Father;
The Gospels are evidence of the teaching, death and resurrection of the Son;
The continuing life of the Christian chruch is the evidence of the Holy Ghost.
One can disbelief the evidence or believe in it, but you cannot say that Christian faith is despite the evidence. It is belief that the evidence truly is what is appears to be. Ours is rational faith.
Since our faith is rational it is also transformative. The country won’t change unless it grows in faith. The pastor is right on that score.
I wish he elaborated on “social relief”. As it is without comment it can be some leftist concept, but it can also be, and probably is, the yearning for sound market economy, frugality and hard work, all recognized conservative values.
There are Christians, Chinese, and Indians who are monotheistic.
But their cultures without Christianity are not so hot. At least not in my book. Certainly nothing I’d ever aspire to.
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