If you ask a Conservative what‘s wrong, especially a fringe conservative who recently has fallen into vitriol and bitter criticism of each and every small move the president makes, he or she might insist that everything is Obama‘s fault. If Obama would only let things alone instead of stirring things up everything will be great just as it has been for the last thirty years.
But it's not Obama's fault. The conservative movement's angst has much deeper roots.
Historically, conservative ideology conserved the status quo which usually benefited the conservative's state of affairs. Keeping the old, established rules and mores in effect was an insurance policy that things would never change. Whenever a change was suggested, conservatives fought tooth and nail to "conserve" the present state of affairs in which they had an advantage.
Conservatism is defined as tending toward traditional values and against change. Liberalism is defined as (Merriam-Webster's online dictionary): "A political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties; specifically: such a philosophy that considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (as those involving race, gender, or class)."
The current conservative movement which began with Ronald Reagan in 1980 is now being replaced in the minds and hearts of America's middle class by a liberal, progressive agenda. This means that many of the policies and ideals of the conservative movement will be superseded over the next decades. China's grand entrance onto the world stage of economics, led by a socialistic government, will influence world opinions and support progressive ideology here in the United States. This all smacks of treason by the conservative movement because a socialistic democracy will erase whatever economic advantage conservatives now enjoy: a concentration of wealth and power, even in congress, among the top 2 or 3% of the population.
Obama is merely the current spokesman of this wave of liberalism that is only now beginning to catch on with the middle class, a class that has been shaken out of its conservative ideals with the constant drip, drip decline of the middle class‘s standard of living. Rather than a guns and butter argument, the disagreement comes down to a butter and butter argument, and whether the butter gets spread around or whether it remains with only a small percentage of the population that holds both the wealth and power of the country.
An example of liberal VS conservative thought is when protestants exited the Catholic church. They did so for liberal reasons as defined above. These days, the religious progressives are beginning to exit the entire organized religious picture as it has been conservatively carried forward for hundreds of years, and for the same progressive reasons but at a more refined, deeper level, which foreshadow a marked decline in traditional religious values. The "religion" of the future will have as its basis a proactive inquiry into the mind, a mind which has created all the religions! But instead of creating another religion which must be fearfully conserved, defended, and looked after so that it is not altered, this progressive movement will free the mind from all of that so that the mind can truly become "religious" from a fundamental, personal level. This will be through individual exertion toward understanding the mind at a much deeper level until mind itself is transcended and one finally comes before the face of God (in Christian terms) rather than just talking about God. And this is what will change humanity from what it is now.
These cultural changes are all going to create one headache after another for the conservative ideals. Religion, economics, government, the holders of power, the guardians of national wealth - all of this is going to change.
And this is the fundamental reason for the present conservative state of frustration. It's called: CHANGE.
Change is one of the primary laws of existence. Everything changes. We can either accept the changes and relax into the new realities that cannot be stopped from occurring, or be frustrated for the rest of our lives getting up every morning in a bad mood and agonizing over how to keep everything the same so that our particular comfort zone isn't disturbed. The exceptional thing is, however, that if we simply allowed the changes to take place, and which will take place anyway, then we might find that this new set of rules and mores actually makes us happier at a deeper, more truly spiritual level.
Everything changes, nothing is permanent. This applies to each and every molecule in the entire universe. This fact that everything changes (an irrefutable fact) causes untold angst for those who fight change. It is Sisyphus rolling the rock up the hill every day just to watch it roll back down because of its tremendous weight - the weight of inevitable change.
So why not just relax? What do you have to lose, really, which you will be able to take with you at the end? What are you really afraid of?
anagarika eddie is a meditation teacher at the Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation Retreat Sanctuary (www.dhammarocksprings.org), and author of A Year to Enlightenment. His 30 years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Thervada Buddhist monk.
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» left by Jim Anderson(927) Jim Anderson (25 days 8 hours ago.)
Very interesting article. You certainly put some good thought into it. I would agree with you that change is inevitable. Change is never comfortable. However, I'm concerned that change for the sake of change is dangerous, which seems to be what is behind this administration's slogan. Also, though things change there are certain moral principles that do remain constant and are timeless.
One of the key fundamental issues conservatives have with this new administration is that Obama is leading the way in an new way of thinking based on old faulty philosophical principles referred to today as postmodernism. Fundamentally, this philosophy denies that there is any absolute truth. This is what is behind Obama's belief that the timeless values and principles in our Constitution, which have made America a great nation, are "outdated". It is akin to someone saying gravity doesn't apply to them, and then jumping off the Empire State Building. Whether they believe it or not, they will still hit the ground with a splat. It is this postmodern kind of change Obama is seeking that has started a grassroots movement of conservatives to challenge this "change" in our government's philosophies. I don't think the average voter understands the implications of this issue. You can't change the foundation of a building without destroying the building itself.
Just something to think about. Appreciate the thoughtful article.
Hi Jim, sorry for not getting back right away. Thanks for the great comment. Surprisingly, I just posted an article about truth etc, that you might find interesting , "Who Invented God?" It gives hints as to how non-believers think!
Hi e, as always, a well-written and thought provoking piece. I appreciate that about you. We obviously come from different points of view and that's okay, I just wish that you would be a little more open-minded to the thought that people of the Christian faith do actually think and reason for themselves, they just happen to come to the conclusion that the Bible is the word of God. Why is it that people of other faiths can believe the books they read and are called free-thinkers using their own mind. I agree with Jim in that there can only be one truth - two opposing belief systems cannot be true but each of us decides for themselves which one is true. Isn't that where true freedom lies? Anway, thanks again for a well written piece. Blessings to you! T
Hi Tesesa, thanks as always for your comment, I will refer you as well to my article today "Who Invented God." It's a good piece about how non-believers think, and I am sure that you will have a great comment or two!
Thanks again for all of your input. Best as always..........e
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