Republican Party … A Working Definition…A Current Illustration

It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the history of its only opponent, Northern conservatism. This is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth, and has no idea of being guilty of the folly of martyrdom. It always, when about to enter a protest, very blandly informs the wild beast whose path it essays to stop, that its “bark is worse than its bite,” and that it only means to save its manners by enacting its decent role of resistance. The only practical purpose which it now subserves in American politics is to give enough exercise to Radicalism to keep it “in wind,” and to prevent its becoming pursy and lazy from having nothing to whip. No doubt, after a few years, when women’s suffrage shall have become an accomplished fact, conservatism will tacitly admit it into its creed, and thenceforward plume itself upon its wise firmness in opposing with similar weapons the extreme of baby suffrage; and when that too shall have been won, it will be heard declaring that the integrity of the American Constitution requires at least the refusal of suffrage to asses. There it will assume, with great dignity, its final position.

R. L. Dabney
“Women’s Rights Women”

There is no major Conservative party in America, just as there is no major Conservative Church denomination. The fact that there is neither at the same time is not a coincidence. It is the height of folly for people to expect a genuine Conservative party when there is no genuine Conservative Church.

This quote also explains why it is more than unwise for genuine Conservatives to vote for Republicans. Republicans are not the ‘lesser of two evils’ since there are not two evils in existence for one to be the lesser of. Republicans and Democrats instead are a connected at the hip, two headed, Siamese monstrosity. When people vote either Democrat or Republican they are voting for the same Siamese monstrosity.

One only needs to look at where the Republicans are tending. They are on the edge of nominating John ‘I hate Gooks but love Illegal Immigrants’ McCain. The putatively Conservative party (have they ever been conservative since the advent of ‘Dime Store New Dealism’?) is about to make their standard bearer a guy who is responsible for legislation that violates the first amendment (McCain – Feingold), who voted against the Bush tax cuts, who became part of ‘group of 14’ in the Senate, collaborating with liberal Democrats to make sure that Senate Republicans wouldn’t alter Senate rules regarding the abuse of Democratic filibuster that was holding up the confirmation of Conservative Judges, who was part of the McCain-Lieberman bill that was Global warming friendly, who supported an amnesty program for illegal immigrants, who is squishy on pro-life issues, who is as pro ‘kill em all and let God sort em out’ as you will find, and who may have only recently considered switching to the Democratic party. This is conservative? If Christians turn out in droves to put this nut case liberal in office it will once again prove that Christians are the problem and not the solution to what ails us.

So over 100 years ago Dabney was right and he remains right today. The ascendancy of John McCain proves that to be true.

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him. View all posts by jetbrane