How to use this Page

Tweet

By Elvin Lim

The vitriol that liberals and conservatives perceive in each other is only the symptom of a larger cause. There is something rooted in the two ideologies that generates anger and condescension respectively, and that is why a simple call by the President for participants to be more civil will find few adherents.

Liberals are thinking, what is it about conservatism that it can produce its own antithesis, radicalism? Whether these be conservatives of the anti-government variety, such as Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City bomber) or Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), or conservatives of the anti-abortion variety such as Clayton Waagner, Eric Rudolph, or the Army of God -all conducted terrorism to preserve a way of life.

One of the deepest paradoxes of American conservatism is that the preservation of the past takes effort. As William F. Buckley put it, conservatives “stand athwart history, yelling Stop.” As the Founder of modern American conservatism noted, the enemy is History itself, because History moves. Congressman Joe Wilson took Buckley’s yelling advice to heart in 2009, when he blurted out “You lie!” to the President when he was addressing the Congress in the chamber of the House. Yelling is a far cry from shooting. But the point is that conservatism on this side of the Atlantic wasn’t exactly born a phlegmatic creed.

Conservatism in America has always been about fighting back and taking back, articulated with a healthy dose of bravado and second amendment rhetoric. Sarah Palin understands this and that is why her crowds cheer her on. People like her because she is feisty. But that has also worked against her. Palin just couldn’t help herself but fight back when she was accused of inciting Jared Loughner into his shooting frenzy. Whereas the very liberal John Kerry thought he was above the fray and was slow to respond to the Swift Boat veterans’ attacks against him, Sarah Palin is often too quick to respond to her attackers, and sometimes she does so without having considered her choice of words (like “blood libel.”)

That is why House leaders about to stage a vote against Obamacare are about to traverse a dilemma-ridden path. To say what they want to say requires outrage and gusto, but when they do this they risk being accused of giving fodder to the would-be Jared Lee Loughners in their midst.

This is not to say that there isn’t vitriol on the liberal side. But it is of an entirely different form. Whereas conservatives are apt to feel anger, liberals project condescension. Again, part of this is structural, because Progressivism of any variety has one thing on its side – history itself. Because in the long run, Progressives have change on their side, they only need to wait and the world as conservatives know it shall pass. This, in part, explains liberal condescension. Conservatives conserve because they want to insulate themselves against the vicissitudes of life and History’s inexorable movement. Progressives or liberals, on the other hand, embrace change because they feel it is inevitable.<

This post originally appeared on my main writing blog, The Rafters Scriptorium. Now that Refreshment of Spirit is no longer on hiatus, I'm moving this post here, which is the right place for it.



The Refreshment of Spirit blog is about spiritually refreshing stories—the kind that Lucy read in the Magician’s Book in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, after she had been on some rather harrowing adventures, including reading another of the spells in the book that was not so refreshing.

I am not a Pollyanna by any means. But a while back I began to grow weary of the constant negativity and incivility and downright injustice I seemed to be seeing, not just on the evening news but everywhere I went. I don’t think we need to pretend such things don’t exist—quite the opposite. We need to point them out, refuse to let them be swept under the rug, and do what we can about them. Thus was born the Refreshment of Spirit blog, so I could write about the thing I love best in all the world—stories that bring us a little closer to the Author and Redeemer of all.

All good things come from Him, and the stories I love are not always explicitly theological. Indeed, I even sometimes find refreshment in the stories of avowed atheists, because anything good in them comes from the source of all good. All creativity flows from the Creator. The end product may be warped, muddied and distorted, but the jewels that shine through the grime still get their sparkle from Heaven.

Lately there has been talk of the need for civility in human interactions. As I noted in another post, politeness, civility, good etiquette --whatever you choose to call it—while it falls a long way short of the self-sacrificing agape Christians are called to, does enable us to make a start. Decent social behaviour does not make a saint of a sinner any more than tithing can make a generous man of Scrooge; but both can help ease the damage done to other people surrounding the miser or the misanthrope.

As Deacon Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers points out, only God can ultimately ‘validate’ us. But this delightful short film which I found posted on his terrific publishing blog shows one of those ways in which every day life can be transfigured with a small change. T.J. Thyne of Bones stars in this fable as a parking lot attendant who transforms the lives of people who come to him to get ‘validated’. The film is 16 minutes long—I encourage you to take your coffee break to watch it and be refreshed!

Megan Branch, Intern

In a time where newspapers are folding and cutting delivery days left and right, it’s easy to forget that the newspaper was once the favorite, and maybe only, way for people to get information. During the American Revolution, journalists were similar to modern-day bloggers. Everyone, it seemed, was starting a newspaper to bring his opinions to the public, including some people who might surprise you. In Scandal & Civility: Journalism and the Birth of American Democracy, Marcus Daniel, associate professor of American History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, offers a new perspective on the most influential, partisan journalists of the 1790s. Daniel reminds us that journalists’ rejection of civility and their criticism of  the early American government were essential to the creation of modern-day politics.  Check back tomorrow for the answers.

1. What early American journalist studied epidemics while taking a break from politics and his newspaper?

2. What grandson of a certain Founding Father used his inheritance to start a newspaper?

3. Which former public-school student, after failing to successfully run a dry-goods shop, decided to “try his luck” at journalism?

4. What Princeton alumnus and early journalist wore homemade clothes to his commencement ceremony?

5. What journalist scandalized Philadelphia with the window dressing in his printing shop and bookstore?