In Deacon Keith Fournier’s article We Do Not Need Conservatism We Need A Classical Christian Revival he makes the case that citizens in America need to return to Godly principles, makes the case for a classical christian revival. But Deacon Keith also claims that we don’t need conservatism. I agree that we need a classical christian revival but I disagree with him when he states we don’t need conservatism. I believe that many conservative principles go hand-in-hand with traditional christian principles so I don’t think that we should outright dismiss principles of conservatism. Conservatives believe in the constitution – adhering to the constitution – and the constitution recognizes that as individuals we are granted certain rights by our Creator so this goes along with classical Christian beliefs. Let’s promote both classical christian and conservative principles.
Here is the article by Deacon Keith Fournier:
I am afraid we will be fooled again if, after this election, we buy the idea that conservatism is the solution to what is needed in this Nation – and in the West. The collapse of Western civilization will not be remedied by conservatism. Political movements alone are inadequate for the task.
WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic Online) – In the aftermath of the US Presidential election the Monday morning quarterbacks are out in full force. I write to address a deeper concern. We must be wary of any attempt to equate a political label with being a Christian – including the label conservative.
Make no mistake, I am not a political liberal. Nor am I what is masquerading as a political progressive these days. I have long contended that there is nothing progressive about contemporary political progressives.
The judicial manufacture of a right to reach into wombs and kill our youngest neighbors is not progressive. Judicial and legislative efforts to give practicing homosexual paramours equal legal status to marriage is not progressive.
Denying the Right to the Free Exercise of Religion, the “First Freedom” in the American tradition, is not progressive. It is a threat to the very foundation of all of our freedoms.
Catholic Christians know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands a response which goes beyond the walls of our Church buildings. We are our brother and sister’s keeper. We do not reach out to people in need because they are Catholic, we reach out to people in need because we are Catholic.
No HHS regulation will compel us to violate our deeply held religious beliefs. Neither can a Presidential administration compel us to stop caring for the poor, the sick and the needy. Clearly, the next few months are leading to an historic Church/State showdown in the United States of America.
At a level much deeper than political labels, we are experiencing a clash of worldviews and competing definitions of human freedom, human flourishing, human progress and what constitutes a truly just and human social order. The positions espoused – and lifestyles affirmed – as progressive by some using the term as a political label turn the clock back on progress.
I will soon be 58 years old. In some ways I am still just an aging “former hippie” whose rejection of the misguided values of a consumerist, secularist, narcissistic, hedonist, instrumentalist and nihilist culture led me to re-embrace the Catholic Christian faith as the true alternative culture when I was a much younger man.
Recently, while in line at Starbucks for coffee, I heard a young couple comment on a CD offered for sale on the counter rack. It featured the best hits of the rock group “The Who”, taken from their long musical career. The cover was a photo of the Who I remembered from when I first began listening to them.
The young man said to his girlfriend, “can you believe that is the Who. I can’t believe they looked like that.” I smiled and chimed in, “That’s them, I remember it well”. We all smiled. However, as I left with my coffee I recalled the words from one of their songs which haunts me these days, “We don´t get Fooled Again.”
Bless you! I can see how his piece could be interpreted a couple of ways when he stated that conservatism alone won’t save us. Either way, he’s right. John Adams famously proclaimed that our Constitution only works for a moral and religious people. Unfortunately,this point is lost even on many supporter’s of returning this country to our Constitutional roots.
5etester,
You are right. Some supporters of this country returning to our constitutional roots want unfettered liberty, or liberty without responsibility or morality. John Adams was correct and now we are seeing the effects of a nation that has turned away from God and toward immorality. Thank you for your comment. God Bless.