True Conservatism is Deeply Liberal

By

Rev. Chuck Waibel

            Item: I’ve been troubled for a while by the feeling that the labels “Liberal” and “Conservative” have lost their meanings. I listen to politicians and others who call themselves by one name or the other, and they seem to be just tags, with no real connection to reality.

            Item: I went to see the film “I, Robot,” this evening. Like many good mystery stories, the plot hinged on logic and the subtle meanings of words.

            Synthesis: On the drive home, in one of those free-association flukes, I realized that the two go together.

            The most basic values of a culture, what is truly “conservative,” are usually found in its religion. By this standard, certain ideas are rock-bottom conservative worldwide. In the West this is called the Golden Rule. Here are some versions, courtesy of Morgana's Observatory (http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/goldrule.htm):  

• Brahmanism- This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. [Mahabharata 5,1517]

• Buddhism- Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. [Udana-Varga 5,18]

• Christianity- Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law of the prophets. [Matthew 7:12]

• Confucianism- Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you. [Analects 15,23]

• Islam- No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. [Sunnah]

• Judaism- What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. [Talmud Shabbat 31a]

• Taoism- Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain and your neighbor's loss as your own loss. [T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien]

• Wicca- An' it harm none, do as ye will. [Rede] Any energy you send out will come back threefold. [The Law of Three]

• Zoroastrianism- That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself. [Dadistan-i-dinik 94-5]

            This pretty well describes Humanity’s shared notion of what is fundamentally, conservatively right. In the course of human events, it needs to be restated from place to place and time to time, which brings us to the US Declaration of Independence:

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty , and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,…”

            This is a restatement of the same principle, and it is inarguably a basic, conservative, statement of US values. It is also one of the most forceful statements of the Liberal ideas upon which the country was founded.

            “To secure these rights,” to embody our most conservative values, “governments are instituted among men.” To secure more money, and for NO other reason, business corporations are created. Clearly, privatization and deregulation of the means by which we supply our common needs and care for one another is not conservative, but some short-sighted, greedy and mean Other.

            In a recent speech George W. Bush proclaimed that he wanted “a country where all people could be safe, prosperous and free.” This sounds fine, but his other proclamations and actions add “…unless you’re gay, of a different religion or otherwise not like me.” His so-called Conservatism is not at all conservative, but the same Other.

            Conservatives also pride themselves on “looking at things as they are.” This is well and good, but this means that espousing customs and prejudices simply because they are old is another side of that Other. In the light of all we have learned in Science and Philosophy, with all that we now know is true that we didn’t two hundred, fifty, even ten years ago, promoting creationism and mandatory prayer in schools, to deny a woman’s right to make up her own mind on agonizing personal issues, to deny homosexuals the right to simply be the kind of human beings they are, and to make people submit to proselytizing to get help, are all violently non-conservative. They are the stingy symptoms of living in that Other’s fantasy world.

            What is the core of this Other that masquerades as Conservatism? It is simply, purely, FEAR. Humans naturally fear change and differences. That’s why wars have been fought over these ideas that all cultures claim to cherish: implementing them, especially in the light of new information, means that people will have to face change and differences. They may even need to admit that they were wrong.

            Worldwide, many people have lost sight of these most conservative of values. In the United States this is especially painful, since those who label themselves as Conservative are actually the farthest from their supposed ideal.

Copyright © 2004 Rev. Chuck Waibel. All rights reserved.