Conservatism Wins

From Our House:

What does a Democrat/DFL victory mean when

  • All gay marriage bans passed but one, including Wisconsin’s more comprehensive civil unions ban? In Arizona, a similar ban was rejected by a tiny margin.
  • Prop 2 passed in Michigan banning affirmative action?
  • The death penalty advisory passed in WI?
  • Arizona passed legislation requiring proof of citizenship for getting state benefits and for voting. Also passed bans on illegals getting bail on some felonies, being able to get money for civil suits in some cases.

As noted even as the counts rolled in – conservatism did just fine last Tuesday.

And I thought this bit was interesting:

Catholics and Evangelicals have been the backbone of the anti-abortion movement since it started. If this is now a settled question, where will they go next? The evangelicals and some Catholics will go on to other social issues, like banning gay marriage, homeschooling and educational choice related issues.

And that can only be a good thing.  While abortion is a solid moral issue (make no mistake, I oppose it), the issue as a whole has long settled into iron-clad categories:  A thin slice on either extreme either opposes it under even the most extreme medical circumstances or thinks it should be a sacrament for participation in society; thin layers of growing moderation follow as you drill your way inward to the vast majority of Americans.  Abortion is a wedge, all right – a wedge that in and of itself has worn out.  The votes to be gained (to speak cynically and politically) are all in the sub-issues; partial-birth, parental notification, etc.

Most Catholics however, may be in play and there have been widespread efforts on the part of the left to get them back, based on the “social teachings of the church.” This is a murky area, consisting of a particular interpretation of a couple of papal encyclicals, some of the documents of Vatican II and the writings of some theologians. Its been used to justify government action on issues like affordable housing and now even global warming. It’s been coming down the road for years and it may be here now.

It’s been one of the big theological stories ever since I was a kid; are the liberal American catholics going to split from the “conservative” Roman church?  What effect will it have?

Mainstream American Catholic churches have been following their mainstream Protestant cousins to the left for decades.  I think the political shakeout within the church and between the churches is going to be an interesting thing to watch over the next twenty years.

Recall how Tony Blair saved the Labor party from a certain death: he waited until he had seniority and then chucked all the old hard core trade unionists out of the party. The rest may be retired or may be biding their time after he retires in a year or so. But he did a good deal of housecleaning based on elements of the Conservatives’ policies that actually worked. Some people argue that if Bill Clinton hadn’t had so many personal weaknesses he might have been regarded similarly. We will just have to see how the ideological wars on both sides play out. It may well be that Conservatives will have roles to play in both parties.

Interesting concept – and a scary one, if you value conservatism.  Far better for conservatism to be a majority (or strong, obstreporous minority) in one party than a weak minority in two.

What do you think?

4 thoughts on “Conservatism Wins

  1. This isn’t entirely on topic, but I have to admit, I’ve spent most of my life surrounded by liberals – both the “liberal intelligentsia/elite” of New York City and the “crunchy granolas” of Ithaca – and I’ve never once met a self-proclaimed member of the rumored thin slice on the left extreme who supposedly view abortion as a sacrament. I’m personally of the view that it should be as rare as possible, but kept completely safe and completely legal – and although I acknowledge there are people to the left of me, some who even view it as a method of birth control for when other methods fail, I’m not aware of anybody practicing it as a lifestyle.

    Perhaps I’m just misunderstanding your characterization. What do you mean exactly?

  2. I’m not a catholic but I doubt if the progressive movement can expect an overall gain from an alliance with Rome. Bergen and ‘liberation theology’ were products of a very narrow slice of 20th century history.
    Chesterton wrote a series of essays around the time of WWI called ‘Utopia of the userers’. It’s in the public domain and you can read it here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2134 . It shows that to Chesterton, that most orthodox of catholics, the church’s idea of social ministry did not end with promoting trade unionism and open borders.
    In the essays Chesterton reflects on the World War as the graveyard of transnational socialism. Chesterton liked transnational socialism, but you’ll see little sympathy for modernist ideas in the essays. In his vision the brotherhood and compassion that made socialism work were only possible under a church-state partnership, with the church being ruled by the pope. He seems to think Ireland could make socialism work if the brits were kicked out (I think the essays were written before 1917).
    Worth reading if you’re into the history of ideas. The ‘tower of babylon’ section is worth reading by itself on its literary merits. In it Chesterton creates a magnificent extended metaphor, likening mankind as well as individual men to the fabled tower, the skull at its peak representing both death and the mind drawing us towards God but the whole ediface fatally flawed because it cannot exist without a foundation that rests on on the earth from which we were made and to which we are fatally planted.
    Warning for the faint of heart: the essays also contain anit-semitic and xenophobic references.

  3. Perhaps I’m just misunderstanding your characterization. What do you mean exactly?

    I was being a tad hyperbolic – but I have met liberals who do not, in fact, think that abortion is a bad thing.

    Question: Where do you put the line between “abortion as birth control” and “abortion as a lifestyle choice”?

  4. The Catholic church is heading back towards the right these days, and the church leaders have stated pretty clearly that those who don’t like it can feel free to leave. Liberal American Catholic churches that choose to “split” from the Roman Catholic church will no longer be Roman Catholic, just another splintered Protestant denomination.

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