Similarity of Political Liberalism and Conservatism
Wednesday, 02 April 2008 10:38
In theological reflection, I believe that we must start under the Lordship of Chist (1 Peter 3:15 ). We must be true to Scripture (God revelation of himself in the Bible) first before any other reflection as to our beliefs about polatics, education, the poor, the rich, economics, etc. The relation between Christianity and Political Philosophy is itself an aspect of the problem of reason (not ultimate) and revelation (ultimate) and their interrelationship. We should not start with man's reason, experience, faith, tradition, or emotion and then develop how we should should live, but start first with understanding and applying the scripture to all of life (Acts 17:2 ). In saying that, I want to refelct on the following Piper quote (see quote below) on the similarities between liberals and conservatives as we see them in the political climate and events of today.
The inconsistencies of liberal and conservative compassion do not define the nature of good and evil.
That there are liberals who talk compassion for the weak and oppressed, but support the butchery of the weakest persons (the unborn even to the point of birth) does not make abortion less evil.
That there are conservatives who talk compassion for unborn persons, but feel little interest or compassion for their own neighbors, let alone the sorrows of the countless poor, does not make inattentive heartlessness less evil.
That liberals justify their support for butchery in the name of freedom, and conservatives justify their indifference to the miseries of poverty in the name of freedom, does not conceal the selective nature of the freedoms they want. The one says, Keep your hands off my body. The other says, Keep your hands off my wallet. Read article
I am thankful to John Piper for this quote and for the blog by Christopher Gates that brought these thoughts to my attention. I start by affirming that NO political solution will solve the worlds problems except for the reign of Christ in the hearts and lvies of men who have affirmed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are willing to give their lives to see the proclamation of that Gospel in every tribe, toungue, and nation. Our groth in living as disciples of Christ and reproducing disciples of Christ is the only hope of peace (Matthew 28:18-20 ). I put my confidence in God and his sovereing plan to bring to an end one day the suffreing of the world in the culmination of His glory (Rev. 11:15 ). With that said I give the following thoughts on the purposes of God has for the political climate of today - where the anamosity between liberals and conservatives seems so great, when in fact many in both camps may have the same goal (a utopia of some kind) but are committed to different visions, values, and vehicals (all of which which are sinful in some sense) to get them there.
As you think about these issues, Let me give you some insite into my biases, values, presuppositions that govern my life. God is going to use all experinces in our lives to humble us so as to perfectly accomplish His Word and Will. That is the lens through which I see every event of my life. I grew up in a very conservative Republical household in Houston, Texas (where I remember our Republican US congressman usually won his seat with over 90% of the vote). I continue to be proud to have attended the most politically conservative public university in the United States - Texas A&M (in saying this I don't intent to say that TAMU is moral or is following God - but it is in that climate that God saved me). It was at TAMU that I developed my philosophical conservatism before I became a Christian by receiving Christ as Lord, Savior and Treasure of all my life in my senior year. Since that time I have changed to realized that no secular philosophy can userp the Christian lable (such as the Religious Right seems to have done in the political realm in the last couple decades), but where Christianity is necessary for a Secular Philosophy (since all humanistic beliefs must borrow capital from Christianity in order to live in God's world), I want to engage (and maybe push-back on) a couple issues in John Pipers quote conserning the similarities between liberalism and conservatism.
First of all, in my biased reflection (as what use to be labled as Historic Conserativism and not as the Neo-Conservitivism of today), I think that this is a good quote about popular forms of Conservatism today (and especially of Neo-Conservatism) with the exception that in pulling out this one quote (without other contexts) the bloger (Christopher Gates) may incorrectly lead a reader to believe that True Historic Conservativism doesn't care about the poor (the same exception could be said for a True liberalism (if there is such a category - hahaha - just kidding) lack of consern for deprivation of freedom (totalitarianism) in the world. A True Historic Conservative (in my definition) would want to dismantle all the agencies and social programs of the federal government not granted for in the US Constitution (which includes closing every agency except Defence Dept. (Military), State Dept. (Foreign Affairs), Comerce Dept. (Interstate Comerce and Post Office), and the Treasury Dept. (Coinage of Money)), and place those power back where they belong - at the local level where people's needs are heard and met with more frequency (including the greater realization that we are responsible to God to help the poor). So while I generally agree with Piper's quote on the similarities between popular Liberals and popular Conservatives today, do we ignore the origins of the 2 philosophies which are quite different in respect to their view of man? I think that we do.
Secondly, my reflection drove me to reconsider the teaching of Economist Milton Friedman - one of my heros in my collage days. He has stated in the following video that he is a True Liberal - that when defined sounds like my lable of True Historic Conservativism (see http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6813529239937418232 - his video on how limited government is best for the poor). I believe that he understood that that a free market needed to be bolstered with a robust Christianity when it came to relationships between people and the assumption of the selfishness (depravity) of humanity is a necessary biblical presupposition. I understand Dr. Friedman to believe that "Free-Market Capitalism" depends on religion to set the necessary moral boundaries. So could it be that True Historical Conservativism doesn't ignore the poor if understood in its more classical form? I personally don't think conservativism ignores the poor or should it; though it may not engage these social issues with a Robin Hood mentality. The issue for me is what really helps people in the long run.
Thirdly, when it comes to our politial entaglements, we must seriously consider whether or not we are perhaps being deceived by our society and culture-and perhaps also by our own human selfishness-when we preach democracy or our political philosophy (Liberal or Conservative) as the panacea for all political problems. Aside from offering the citizen certain legal rights, most versions of democracy and American political philosophies tell us we have the power and authority to claim for ourselves certain "inalienable rights", such as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Christianity is a religion of the cross, a religion whose founder taught that true life comes only to those who are willing to die [see e.g., Mat. 10:38-39; 16:24; cf. 1 Cor. 15:31 ]. Among other things, this means Christians are called to give up all rights (This implies, of course, that we must have some rights to give up. The point here, though, is that we have no right to claim our rights as our own possession): not just the basic right to "life" (in this world) (though we do defend the life of others who cannot defend themselves), but also rights such as "liberty" (in this world) (thought we do fight for the liberty of others in oppression) and "the pursuit of happiness" (in this world) (though we do consider the happiness of others as more important than our selves (Philippians 2:1-4 )) for a greater life, liberty, and happiness in Christ. For the Bible repeatedly says Christians are to be "slaves of Christ" [e.g., Eph. 6:6 ; Rom. 6:22 ] and are to endure all manner of suffering for the sake of a future glory [see e.g., Rom. 8:18 ; 1 Pet. 2:18-4:19 ]. How, then, can a Christian defend any political philosophy which solely encourages its citizens to stand up and defend their "basic human rights" without any humility? Do both conservativism and liberalism blunt our spiritual lives in that they both promote one to demand their right rather than to submit their "rights" to God as the rightful ruler of all? I do think that this similiarity in conservatism and liberalism will blunt our spiritual lives and lead us to sinfully demand things from God or presume upon God. No wonder people reject the true Gospel of Christ in America.
Finally, God's kingdom is the kingdom of love. We must always keep in mind, though, that the word "love" refers here neither to sentimentality nor to the pleasantries of friendship, but to the creative experience of discovering the powerful (joyful) powerlessness of self-emptying. Not only does it require us to endure suffering, it also opens us up to the risk of exposing our own hidden hatred, the purging of which is one of the purposes for our suffering. For this reason, apathy is always an easier alternative to choose, though often more destructive than hatred in the long run. Could it be that one of reasons for the distructive similarities of popular Conservativism and Liberalism as we see in the dialogue today is that they are not ruled by "love?" I believe it and that is why it is always dangerous to equate Christianity with any poltical party or specific Philosophy that opposes God's kingdom. I long for the day when Jesus will Rule in a theocracy of perfect love and righteousness in heaven (though some believe in a earthly theocracy, which would need to be discussed in another article). But let us not be weary of doing good here and now (Gal. 6:9 ) for we will have our reward as Christ's ambasadors in helping the poor and the oppressed of this world.
