The Temptation of Secular Conservatism

Last updated on: November 19, 2012 at 6:15 am by Joe Carter

The Temptation of Secular Conservatism 2012-11-19T06:15:03+00:00 Joe Carter

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At First Things, William Doino Jr. has written the most commendable “the problem with conservatism” article of the year. I agree with every word:

American conservatism, of course, has never been perfectly Christian—and sometimes, far from it—but its imperfect efforts to uphold the country’s moral and religious heritage is still welcome. But now that these attacks are emerging from within, traditional conservatives have to fight on two fronts—against anti-religious liberals, and secular conservatives.

This two-front assault on traditional conservatism has taken a toll. Intimidated by loose (and often ludicrous) charges of “theocracy,” many committed religious believers have hesitated to cite the Bible in support of anything political, even though our Founding Fathers did. A few misleading accusations against the Bible—on slavery or women’s rights, for example—are enough to cause modern conservatives to abandon Biblical arguments altogether. They have adopted a secularist tongue, albeit one that stresses conservative values and the Natural Law (as close to Biblical morality as they are willing to get.)

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