Restorative Conservatism

Laying down some basic, formative truths to serve as the foundation for sound thinking, we need to come to terms with where we come from, who we are, and where we are going.

Fundamental Truths

First comes the premise that there is a God, and we are not Him. Genesis tells us He is the Creator who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them in six days and rested on the seventh.

Then there is the fact that God created man in His image – male and female – to reflect the character, goodness, and purpose of God in Creation. This informs the dignity we ascribe to ourselves and one another, and the love and respect required in the dealing with humanity.

Third we must consider the most basic of human relationships – the two who become one flesh as man and wife. Marriage is the basis of family, and children come as a consequence in most cases.

Next, God tells us His purpose for marriage is to produce godly offspring. Children then are supposed to be trained up by their father and mother in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Fifth, man is not basically good. He is not inherently good, nor is he fundamentally good. Rather, as descendants of our first forefather Adam, we are inheritors of a sinful nature and broken. So is the Creation. This is what is commonly known as ‘Original Sin.’

The Good News is that God purposed to resolve this thorny problem of our sinful nature by sending His Son to live a sinless life, suffer and die in our stead, and be raised from the dead after three days as a foretaste of the eternal restoration God has promised to whoever believes in Christ.

Renewed Convictions

In these truths we have cause for both confidence and humility, and on that psychological tandem and God’s favor does our flourishing and fruitfulness depend.

Therefore, any conservative resurgence which might succeed in this country or any other must first work at a restoration of these seminal convictions. All other ground is sinking sand.

Yet if our conservatism is predicated on a genuine, heartfelt love for God and one another and the informed sensibilities in this framework, it will succeed. Only from that fertile ground of these truths do we have some hope of bearing the fruit of loving restoration – for ourselves, our families, and our communities – to a place of the utmost peace and prosperity which can be expected and achieved in an as-yet still Fallen world.

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