By: Tim Brynteson

Tim Brynteson — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:08:06 +0000

My only qualm with the above is the statement that tragedy is not the result of social engineering, but of moral disorder. While true in the abstract, it invites a passivity in accepting bad and destructive behavior by seeming to ignore actions, policies, institutions, etc. that can be implemented and encouraged to either decrease the tragedy or lessen its impacts.

Can we social engineer Utopia? No. Are we responsible to act (individually, corporately, whether through public or private institutions) to encourage “better” behavior which may lessen inevitable tragedies? I think so. Entire law lectures are built around the moral culpability of “acts of ommission” vs. “acts of commission” and I understand that there no easy solutions to this quandry. We must, however, wrestle with it.

By: John Lofton, Recovering Republican

John Lofton, Recovering Republican — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:57:52 +0000

Forget, please, modern “conservatism.” It has been, operationally, de facto, Godless and therefore irrelevant. Secular conservatism will not defeat secular liberalism because to God both are two atheistic peas-in-a-pod and thus predestined to failure. As Stonewall Jackson’s Chief of Staff R.L. Dabney said of such a humanistic belief more than 100 years ago:

“[Secular conservatism] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today .one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth.”

Our country is collapsing because we have turned our back on God (Psalm 9:17) and refused to kiss His Son (Psalm 2).

John Lofton, Editor, Archive.TheAmericanView.com
Recovering Republican
Blog: JohnLofton.com
JLof@aol.com

Comments on: Tonsor on Conservatism

By: Tim Brynteson

By: John Lofton, Recovering Republican