CONSERVATIVE CREDO

The following is reprinted in its entirety by permission from The Imaginative Conservative

Conservative Credo

by Barbara J. Elliott

Barbara J. Elliott

This was presented on April 15 in a debate between conservatives and progressives, co-sponsored by the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies of Grand Valley State University and the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal.

Conservatism seeks the Truth that has emerged over time, drawing from the deep wellsprings of human experience, and builds anew on foundations that have withstood the tests of time. It fosters order and the flourishing of human beings as they live in relationship with one another. We are united in the eternal contract between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn.

Conservatism is rooted in the acknowledgement that God is our Creator and that the human soul sojourns through this realm toward its eternal transcendent fulfillment. We are all flawed human beings in need of redemption, capable of great evil as well as great good.

Because man is fallible by nature, the conservative seeks to limit the damage that can be done through the abuse of power by limiting its concentration.

The conservative fosters the fullness of human potential by protecting the freedom and dignity of each person, acknowledging that responsibility comes with freedom. Rights and duties are always linked.

CONSERVATIVE CREDO

OBAMA'S SHOT AT IMMANENTIZING THE ESCHATON

What has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it a heaven.  Friedrich Höderlin, German poet (1770-1843).

Conservatives have relegated President Obama’s standing with his leftist progressive/socialist base to a party joke. The left provides the ammo since they laughably refer to President Obama as their “messiah”, “the anointed one”, and their “Lord and Savior”. Conservative’s certainly enjoy mocking liberals, but what’s disturbing is these are actual accolades from the left praising the president. Conservatives are pretty clever, but they can’t make this stuff up. They can certainly take credit for ridiculing these preposterous tributes but not for concocting them. That dubious acknowledgment belongs solely to the left, and one doesn’t have to search far and wide for the sources of the left’s anomalous adoration for Mr. Obama. Remember, Mr. Obama is the leader of the political party that booed God!

The left’s regard for Mr. Obama’s awesome “messianic-ness” is ubiquitous, and sharing only a few examples of their god-like worship reveals their eerie obsession with the president’s cult of personality. Newsweek’s January 18, 2013 cover has a right-sided profile of the president (I guess it’s his good side) with the caption “The Second Coming”. Numerous celebrities have weighed in on the president’s ability to stroll on water, most notably Jamie Fox declaring Mr. Obama as his “Lord and savior”. If you’re in the market for one-stop “Obama the Omnipotent” shopping there is a website called “Is Barack Obama the Messiah?” devoted solely to the “prophet of the progressive” replete with “Obama conversion stories”. I’m not sure if this website is a gag since it’s effusive worship of Mr. O is so over the top, but given the transcendence conferred on him by his admirers I’m betting it’s for real. If so it captures quite well how Mr. Obama’s acolytes have faith that he will “immanentize the eschaton”.

OBAMA'S SHOT AT IMMANENTIZING THE ESCHATON

THE AMERICAN CAUSE

The following is reprinted in its entirety by permission from The Imaginative Conservative

The American Cause: Justice, Order, and Freedom 

by John Pafford

The American Cause by Russell Kirk

Henry Regnery, publisher of Kirk's magnum opus, The Conservative Mind and friend of his, urged him to write a short book easily understood by the average person, setting forth the foundational spiritual, moral, social, political, and economic principles of the United States. Initially Kirk demurred, having other projects in mind, but changed his stance after carefully considering the situation. His concern grew about the susceptibility to enemy propaganda of "well-intentioned Americans who lack any clear understanding of their own nation's first principles." He further stated that "good-natured ignorance is a luxury none of us can afford." 

Gleaves Whitney, former and chief speechwriter for Michigan governor John Engler, wrote the introduction and the afterword of this new edition (there had been a second edition in 1966) and deleted or abbreviated some parts of the book that were dated. For example, he altered some references to the then current Soviet threat to warnings against radical revolutionaries or radical ideologues. The vast majority of the book, though, was left untouched since it presented abiding principles that never will be dated. 

THE AMERICAN CAUSE

WHY I AM A CONSERVATIVE

To condense into a short essay the reason I’m a conservative is no mean feat. From my perspective In order to represent my reasoning I need to address not only what it is about conservatism that first captured my attention, but also how I believe that the principles of conservatism best suit humankind’s natural inclinations and that of society as a whole.

My initial introduction to what conservatism embodies was through Russell Kirk’s magnum opus “The Conservative Mind”. Kirk’s rendering of conservatism’s legacy fascinated me primarily because I found it to be such a noble heritage and I was intrigued by conservatism’s persistent quest for seeking the high moral ground. Kirk’s book was consistent with other works on conservatism I read in their respect for virtue, humility, tradition, and piety grounded in the natural laws of Judeo-Christian beliefs. I found it interesting how those wonderful values are also very much rooted in the formation of local communities that serve as the building blocks for the world’s greatest civilizations, epitomized by America’s founding. I also came to appreciate that conservatism’s respect for ancestral wisdom has served as a guiding principle for leaders from Burke, Washington, Disraeli, and Lincoln to Churchill, Thatcher and Reagan.

WHY I AM A CONSERVATIVE

OVERCOMING OBAMA'S NEW NORMAL

Going into election day a Romney win appeared imminent. The experts augured a certain victory for Mr. Romney. George Will predicted 321 electoral votes for the Governor, Dick Morris boldly projected 325 and Karl Rove modestly assured 279 electoral votes for a Romney presidency. President Obama had a four year record that was, from any dispassionate perspective, abysmal, if not criminal in nature. 

A Romney victory foretold the Republic’s salvation from President Obama’s oppressive and dangerous regime.  This is a president who enacted fiscal policies that reduced America’s credit standing and engendered unemployment, deficits and public debt of record proportions. He was on a quixotic mission to punish productive Americans with greater taxes while cultivating a plantation like dependent state for those suffering under his punitive policies. Mr. Obama has the dubious distinction for being the first president to enlist Marxist class warfare rhetoric by expounding on the evils of America’s free market system. He conducted a shadow unconstitutional government of unelected czars immune to congressional approval after campaigning on a guarantee to have the most transparent presidency in history. 

OVERCOMING OBAMA'S NEW NORMAL

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

AN UNREDEEMED PRESIDENCY

As election day draws near and the presidential campaigns execute their final strategies the winds of success appear to be at the backs of the Romney/Ryan team, and it’s not too imperious to envisage a Romney/Ryan victory. It appears that a significant part of the electorate agrees with the title of Niall Ferguson’s cogent essay entitled “Obama’s Gotta Go”. As we eagerly await their promising triumph on November 6th and, risking impetuousness, we deign to contemplate what a Romney presidency will resemble in its maiden year. 

AN UNREDEEMED PRESIDENCY

INDIVIDUAL, COMMUNITY, AND STATE: HOW TO THINK ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Reprinted by permission in its entirety from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.

The following is adapted from a lecture delivered by Matthew J. Franck at Hillsdale College on September 11, 2012, during a conference on “The Supreme Court: History and Current Controversies.”

There is a growing awareness among Americans that religious freedom in our country has come under sustained pressures. In the public square where freedom of religion meets public policy, it becomes clearer all the time that there is a high price to be paid for being true to one’s conscience. This is no tale of Chicken Little—although a chain of chicken sandwich restaurants based in Atlanta is part of the story. Let me give you a few examples.

INDIVIDUAL, COMMUNITY, AND STATE: HOW TO THINK ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM