The American Heritage Dictionary defines Conservatism as “The inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order”. Although that sounds like a stagnate and closed minded philosophy it actually is not. Basically it means that conservatives believe that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Conservatives are typically pro-life because life is considered sacred and God given. They are against gay marriage, not because they believe consenting adults don’t have the right to be gay, but rather because they believe marriage is a long standing, God instituted system for creating strong families. They support a strong military, not because they are warmongers, but because they realize that there are situations where war cannot be avoided.
The also support freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and all the other tenets of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. So at what point did “conservative” become another word for “idiot”?
I can’t tell you the day or moment when the shift in definition occurred but I can tell you it happened because the world over the past few generations has become one where people don’t like absolutes. They want to do what tickles their fancy and they don’t want anyone, anything, or any system of thought to interfere with their whims.
I don’t base that statement on the political beliefs stated above. There are some who don’t consider themselves Conservatives that feel the same way on those particular issues. I base that statement on our culture. We, as a nation, have become increasingly self-centered and self-gratifying. We don’t want to accept responsibility, we want to blame. We don’t want to accept consequences, we want to find ways around them. And the easiest way to shift blame and dodge consequences is to create a system of laws and thought that says whatever feels good is good and the traditions of old are antiquated.
While some traditions were heavily flawed and oppressive (think slavery and oppression of women) they were flawed because of the way they were executed. For instance, marriages were usually arranged and the wives were the property of their husbands. That doesn’t mean that marriage between a man and woman is antiquated. It means the individuals, as today, were flawed in their thinking of what marriage should be.
It is the hope of the author of this editorial that those who read this article and the others that will follow will see that Conservatives by definition are not idiots even if they disagree with you. Conservatism is a system of belief. It is valid and it is worthy of consideration. It also happens to be protected by the same constitution as liberalism. Go figure.
