The legacy of George W. Bush is simply that he buried, perhaps permanently, the GOP’s reputation as a party that favors small government and fiscal responsibility. Even the Reagan-era deficits and those of “Poppy” Bush pale when compared to the mountains of red ink amassed by “W.” And how conservative can a president be who would go to the mat in defense of Viagra coverage in the prescription drugs benefit that Bush persuaded Congress to add to Medicare?

Even the hot-button “social issues” no longer look promising for Republicans. While the Democrats holding or running for office are nearly unanimous in support of abortion “rights,” Republicans remain split on the issue, albeit with the abortion foes in the majority. On issues like “gay marriage,” the GOP may temporarily hold sway with an uneasy majority of the electorate, but they are mostly at a loss to explain their position.

The reason is the “G” word. Republicans have grown used to talking about God as though blessing America were His chief, even His only responsibility. Democrats mention God almost exclusively as the guarantor of inclusiveness. Neither side is eager to acknowledge any set commandments or recognize any sin. Greed is good to Republicans, sexual license a sign of liberty and maturity for the Democrats. Old fogey concepts like “natural law” and “right reason” are all but banished. They are not repudiated so much as forgotten; not strangled in their sleep as much as dying from neglect.

There was a time when National Review, before it succumbed to state worship, asked whether it was possible to be a conservative without being religious. The answer the magazine offered was a tentative “Yes, but…” One could be a conservative without religion, but not a conservative who is hostile to religion—not, in other words, like Ayn Rand.

But what about conservatives—and others—who are merely indifferent to Christianity, neither remembering nor acknowledging its unique, foundational contributions to the civilization we hope to conserve? What if, when we ignore the Holy Bible, we also forget natural law and right reason? May we still combine that willingness to reform and disposition to preserve that Burke described so eloquently? Perhaps not.

Chesterton observed that when you pull the miter off man, his head falls with it. Deny faith and we lose reason in the bargain. How else do you explain that in the name of liberty (or “choice”) we countenance the destruction of innocent life at the rate of 4,000 abortions a day in the United States alone? How else do you explain that today entire legislative bodies in the western world labor over a definition of marriage that bestows the state’s blessing of matrimony on couples “regardless of gender”?

Natural law? If one refuses to see nature’s procreative purpose in sexual activity, a continuation of the species by the repeated union of man and woman so “the two become one flesh,” then one is committed philosophically to chaos. Chaos was once considered reactionary. It was said of Speaker of the House Joe Cannon, a Massachusetts Republican of another era, that if he had been present at the Creation, he would have voted for chaos. Today a preference for chaos is regarded as the mark of a “progressive.”    

In this culture war, our churches are, at best, a Maginot Line of defense. When New Hampshire lawmakers were debating and enacting the state’s “gay marriage law,” the New Hampshire Council of Churches had no position. Indeed, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire is headed by an openly homosexual bishop who argued on behalf of the bill. The Roman Catholic diocese and other, smaller ecclesiastical bodies opposed it, but “inclusiveness” was the order of the day.

Even more ironic is the fact that the New Hampshire Council of Churches is also the New Hampshire Bible Society. Perhaps the reverend clergy and lay ministers should reread at least the first page or two of the Bible. There they will find a view of marriage irreconcilable with the “regardless of gender” rhetoric now embodied in the laws of New Hampshire.  

We cannot, liberals or conservatives, force people to be religious. But we can battle illiteracy on all fronts, and this is nowhere more important than in the case of biblical illiteracy.

People, especially “broad-minded” people, may not be convinced by God’s view of reality. But they should at least have a passing acquaintance with it. That, by the looks of things, is more than many legislators and judges, state and national, have had in a long while. 
 

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Pat Henry said:

Agreed in church, diverse in civics We should thank W for ending the charade, then. The Randians (though we may argue with them - if we maintian freedom of public discourse!) should vote Libertarian. Those of us who agree with Christian presuppositions should vote Constitution Party. Then we'd have a real two party system. The Beast on the earth slain, we could buy time to work on the more slippery Leviathan of the deep. But let us have no more of conservatives voting for Republicans or Democrats. It is time to crush this double-headed monster.

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June 11, 2009
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Peter Steele said:

My family's reverence for the Holy Bible My parents and I have read the King James version of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelations. Family friends Kitty and Bill Richter warned us about offending God. It is Jeremiah 1:8 says that abortion and euthanasia are cruel practices and our Bible Based Constitution has no room for abortion and euthanasia. Dad was scared of Revelations even though he said I did the best with what I had and am at Peace with God. Both my parents and I had been conservative Republicans for many years as well as being devout Christians. I try not to offend God being a worshipper of Jesu Christ.

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June 11, 2009
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Anti-Partisan said:

	Another great one from Kenny This is another excellent piece by a talented and brilliant thinker!
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June 12, 2009
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MarkGlen said:

Texas Republicans are for the NWO The problem with US Senate and House Republicans in Texas they are for the merger of the Western hemisphere. The Governor, Both Senators, and the 19th district Representative. I don't know for sure about one of them but when she answers or doesn't answer my e-mail I will know. P.S.Your security image at the bottom of the page is so crazy I can hardly copy it. What is a broken vertical line?

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June 12, 2009 | url
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