I’ve read this so many times and its still dumb.

Slavery - the British Parliament passed a bill outlawing the slave trade in 1807. Peaceful democracy. The US experience is not the only way to end slavery.

Nazism (fascism) - between 1933 and 1939 there were ample opportunities to prevent the rise of Nazism in Germany diplomatically. War was the result of this grand failure and the cost of ending Nazism was the death of 70 million people.

Communism - for goodness sake why do you think it was called the COLD war? Because there was no fighting. 1991 was achieved WITHOUT fighting, it was largely due to internal forces in the USSR.

If the response to my argument that war is not a solution is to be a slogan taken from a bumper sticker or a t-shirt, then I have to laugh. War cannot be reduced to a bumper sticker slogan, though many people want to do that.

If conservatism is a commitment to protecting individual freedom from governmental oppression (and I have heard that one before; it was called “state’s rights” and was used to justify segregation), then why is the second largest bureaucracy in our government the Department of Homeland Security? And why does the current administration, proclaiming conservative values, insist on laws, regulations, and rules that suppress the rights of citizens?

It is interesting to note that William F. Buckley originally opposed the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s but he saw that such a position was contrary to the notion of the individual’s right to freedom and he changed. You cannot make an argument for individual freedom when some individuals use that freedom to limit the freedom of others.

The only individuals who seem to benefit from a conservative viewpoint are those who have the money and the power. Those who have no power or money are left without. It makes a great argument that we, as individuals, should take care of those who do not have but it strikes me as odd that those who have the most work very hard to keep their money, their power, and their position.

I am not certain what modern-day liberals think. I am not certain that there are other true liberals left. What I know is that if I say that I am a Christian, then I am committed to following Christ and seeing that the Gospel message of feeding the hungry, caring for the downtrodden and poor, building the homes for the homeless, healing the sick, and seeking justice for the oppressed is completed. I don’t think it can be done by saying that it is my choice to do so and if I decide to keep what is mine because I have the freedom to do so, then I don’t think you are a Christian.

From the very moment that I knew Christ, I saw him in a liberal sense. I saw a person who opposed power for power’s sake and who worked to give everyone an opportunity.

I know that you are working on a series of ideas that push the concept that one can be a conservative and a Christian. My thoughts on the viability of such an argument are obvious. If you wish to put a link to those arguments as a comment to this one, you may do so. Otherwise the comments are closed.

Blessings on your ministry.

Tony

WORDPRESS says that our two blogs (at least our most recent posts, although yours is from 2007 I see) are related, so I came by to check you out. Please stop by my place and let me know what you think (and maybe add Jesus + Compassion to your blog roll so we can stay connected).

God bless you!

Cd

Does war produce perfect solutions? No. Would slavery have lasted 2-3 more generations in the US without the Civil War? Probably. Was there a non-violent solution to WWII? Early on; once it passed, we had no other choice.

Korea and Viet-nam were in a sense theaters in the larger Cold War. And we almost won Viet-nam before the politicians gave up.

[ANWR] may be a huge area of nothing to you but there is still life there and there are people there.
You’ve seen the images — picturesque trees, abundant animal life, little villages — all phony. I’ve talked to people who’ve worked there. It’s a wasteland. The area we want to explore is a tiny sliver of the whole — a thousand acres or so in a region larger than North Dakota.

The very nature of conservatism is to hold onto what you have and resist efforts to change.
Does that mean the nature of liberalism is to change everything you can as quickly as possible.

I would suggest that conservatism is a committment to protecting individual freedom from governmental oppression. (Not all Republicans are conservative.)

Did the civil war end slavery? Yes, it did but the southern land owners changed slavery into share-cropping and keep the blacks in financial slavery for the better part of the next 100 years. Economic slavery is still present and all war is going to do is keep it in place as the “haves” keep the “have-nots” from getting anything.

Did World War II conquer fascism or Nazism? I suppose that it did but there are still fascists in this country and national socialism still exists by other names?

Did we conquer communism through war? In the two wars against communism that have been fought in my lifetime, we lost one and tied the other. I don’t think we can claim victory over communism through war just yet.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge may be a huge area of nothing to you but there is still life there and there are people there. And we know that damage to one little bit of the permafrost has lasting and almost permanent repercussions. I am not saying that we shouldn’t drill there but we need to put more into long-term maintenance than we might presently think; otherwise, there will be a duplication of the pipeline problems of a year or so ago.

I am aware that our reliance on oil goes far beyond gasoline and diesel fuel and thought that I was saying something to that effect. But the answer cannot be to simply drill for more oil; sooner or later, we are going to have to make some changes. What I did not say in the piece was that we know there is a problem but we keep putting off seeking the solution because it is a hard solution to develop and we have easier solutions at hand.

It strikes me that being conservative can hardly be the basis for being optimistic. The very nature of conservatism is to hold onto what you have and resist efforts to change. It is my opinion that those who resist change are going to be the very agents of fear as they seek to hold onto what they have.

We are in the midst of an economic crisis in this country. It is likely that this crisis will transcend national boundaries…
Um, it already has. Look around.

Our economy is so oil-based it’s ridiculous*, and there’s very little we can do about that in the short term. We need more oil.** Will it take a few years to get the oil? Yep. Will it be faster than developing “alternative” solutions? Probably. Those other things may or may not happen and may or may not be quick. We know where the oil is, how to get it, and what to do with it.

Sometimes there is a reason for fear. When there is reason for optimism, the right is generally more optimistic than the left, imho.

* Besides using it for gas and other energy production, it’s in roads, plastics, building materials, and many chemicals including shampoo.

**No, the environmental concerns aren’t valid. ANWR is a huge area of nothing, and our drilling would affect a tiny part of that nothing — a region about the size of an airport.